Car Tires Shed Microplastics, Making Them A Pollution Problem You Never Saw Coming
When it comes to pollution, car tires are the culprits you never saw coming. As they twist and turn on the road, they leave behind tiny particles of microplastics that are invisible to the human eye. Every year, billions of vehicles all over the world shed an estimated six million tons of little tire crumbs.
These small plastic flakes eventually build up in soil, lakes, rivers, and even in our food. Recently, researchers in South China found chemicals from car tires in most of the samples of human urine they collected.
Tire particles are a major contributor to microplastic pollution, but they are often overlooked. They make up 28 percent of microplastics that enter the environment worldwide.
They are also lumped in with other microplastics, but they require a unique approach in order to mitigate their effects.
Tire particles are made from a combination of synthetic and natural rubbers, in addition to hundreds of chemical additives. As a result, the consequences of pollution from tires can be unexpected and widespread.
For instance, zinc oxide makes up around 0.7 percent of a tire’s weight. It is necessary for making tires more durable, but it is also highly toxic to fish and other aquatic life. Even just trace amounts of zinc oxide can disrupt entire ecosystems.
Another harmful additive in tires is a chemical called 6PPD. It protects tires from cracking. But when it is exposed to water and air, it turns into 6PPD-quinone, a compound associated with mass episodes of fish deaths in the United States.
Heavier vehicles, including electric cars, wear down their tires at quicker rates. Therefore, they produce more microplastic particles. According to car industry experts, the weight of a vehicle is crucial to its environmental impact.
They suggest that car manufacturers should be fined with weight-based taxes under a pollution principle to encourage designs for lighter vehicles and help consumers become more green.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
Further research still needs to be conducted to determine how far these tire particles spread and where exactly they are accumulating.
The researchers want to figure out which tire additives are most hazardous to our health and which species are the most vulnerable. For example, some species of salmon are more sensitive to 6PPD-quinone than others.
Urgent action and solutions are required to reduce environmental harm. Innovations in tire design and more eco-friendly alternative materials could help control tire emissions. Additionally, tire particles must be classified as their own pollution category.
In comparison to conventional microplastics, tire particles behave differently in the environment and break down into special chemical compounds.
Each year, more than two billion tires are produced to satisfy the growing demand for cars. The problem will only continue to grow worse until it is properly addressed.
More About:News
Read This Next
