Concerned about microplastics? Research shows one of the biggest sources is car tyres
A lot of the emphasis on reducing microplastics has focussed on things like plastic bags, clothing, and food packaging.
But there’s a growing body of research that shows one of the biggest culprits by far is car tyres.
It’s increasingly clear that we simply cannot solve the issue of microplastics in the environment while still using tyres — even with electric-powered cars.
"Tyre wear stands out as a major source of microplastic pollution. Globally, each person is responsible for around 1kg of microplastic pollution from tyre wear released into the environment on average each year – with even higher rates observed in developed nations.
"It is estimated that between 8% and 40% of these particles find their way into surface waters such as the sea, rivers and lakes through runoff from road surfaces, wastewater discharge or even through airborne transport.
“However, tyre wear microplastics have been largely overlooked as a microplastic pollutant. Their dark colour makes them difficult to detect, so these particles can’t be identified using the traditional spectroscopy methods used to identify other more colourful plastic polymers.”
"Microplastic pollution has polluted the entire planet, from Arctic snow and Alpine soils to the deepest oceans. The particles can harbour toxic chemicals and harmful microbes and are known to harm some marine creatures. People are also known to consume them via food and water, and to breathe them, But the impact on human health is not yet known.
““Roads are a very significant source of microplastics to remote areas, including the oceans,” said Andreas Stohl, from the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, who led the research. He said an average tyre loses 4kg during its lifetime. “It’s such a huge amount of plastic compared to, say, clothes,” whose fibres are commonly found in rivers, Stohl said. “You will not lose kilograms of plastic from your clothing.””
“Microplastics are of increasing concern in the environment [1, 2]. Tire wear is estimated to be one of the largest sources of microplastics entering the aquatic environment [3,4,5,6,7]. The mechanical abrasion of car tires by the road surface forms tire wear particles (TWP) [8] and/or tire and road wear particles (TRWP), consisting of a complex mixture of rubber, with both embedded asphalt and minerals from the pavement [9].”
https://microplastics.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43591-021-00008-w
#car #cars #urbanism #UrbanPlanning #FuckCars @fuck_cars #environment #microplastics #pollution #plastics
“Microplastics are of increasing concern in the environment [1, 2]. Tire wear is estimated to be one of the largest sources of microplastics entering the aquatic environment [3,4,5,6,7]. The mechanical abrasion of car tires by the road surface forms tire wear particles (TWP) [8] and/or tire and road wear particles (TRWP), consisting of a complex mixture of rubber, with both embedded asphalt and minerals from the pavement [9].”
https://microplastics.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43591-021-00008-w
You quoted the introduction, not even their conclusions. That’s not how scientific papers work.
Your post amounts to mostly baseless fear mongering while ignoring the real data you actually link to:
(TWP = tire wear microplastic particles)
Results indicate that TWP occur in relatively high concentrations compared to microplastics in general and that the corresponding risk of TWP is above threshold levels. Because TWP exists both as anthropogenic particulates and as a source of a suite of chemicals, providing a risk assessment is challenging. This study provides a first risk assessment posed by particle effects (TWPMP) as well as risks posed by chemical effects (organic micropollutants). Additional research is required to further address the risks of TWP, e.g. toxicity testing for environmentally realistic TWP material and aligning exposure and effect data.
I interpret that as there are clear signs of it being an issue but further research is required to actually find out how big the issue actually is.
I tried to read the paper for more details but I’m not very well versed in risk assessment of substances, so I barely understood it.
I don’t see what’s wrong with quoting the introduction. Generaly, literature reviews are more reliable than a single study, and the introduction is a mini literature review.
I guess if op was writing a scientific paper, they ought to cite the original research to give credit to the right people. And maybe it would be better to cite a proper review article in a Lemmy post, but I think what op did was fine.
I don’t see what’s wrong with quoting the introduction.
Because the motivation is mostly a formality, not the actual contents of the paper.
literature reviews are more reliable than a single study, and the introduction is a mini literature review.
I’d generally agree but not if the paper they’re citing adds new information that (at least partially) invalidates/updates the literature.
If I wrote a paper that said in its introduction “It is generally believed that x is the cause for y. So and so have found weak evidence in [42] and someone else similarly weak evidence in [69]. Someone else still theorised the effect could be greater than assumed in [1337].” and then found out in the paper that x does not cause y at all.
Don’t you think it’d be disingenuous to quote the introduction and leave out all of the conclusions when talking about the effects of x?
To me, that’d be an obvious lie by omission.
In this case, it’s not quite as bad as the paper does not conclude the literal opposite of what was quoted but its conclusion is quite a bit more differentiated than the “TWP bad” of its motivation.
@Atemu @lemming934 What was more of interest was that literature review and overview of the state of research, rather than the specifics of the research itself.
Currently, a lot of the public disclosure around microplastics focusses on things like plastic bottles and bags. There’s little public discussion around the impacts of driving and tyres.
Whereas, in the academic discourse, there is an acknowledgement that one of the top sources of microplastic pollution is from tyres and asphalt, particularly in waterways.
Ev’s wear out tires faster. Check mate, environmentalists!
@PowerCrazy @ColeSloth this is the one post you post lmao
EXTREME
Wrong. Each person is not responsible for 1kg,
Someone living in rural Tanzania is responsible for close to zero kg, and some people are probably responsible for dozens of kg.
I really hate when people say “each person” implying that everyone use about the same amount, rather than an actual tonnage. Feel free to add distribution across nations, life styles and other categorizations after that.
<crawls-back-under-the-rock_without-tires/>
@fuck_cars
How much am I responsible for? If I weigh the tires (all 4) when I buy them, then use them for X years, then weigh them when I get rid of them for the next ones- then that is how much I responsible for. And I can divide it by the years I had it for a yearly number too.
And that is how much microplastic I would agree I am responsible for with the tires. There is also the carbon cost of making them, supplying them, and disposal. But we were talking about microplastics…
No, that’s still not fair.
That’s like saying; “On average, you kill 0.001 persons in your life time.”, or “On average, you smuggle 100 grams of hard narcotics in your life.”
But that’s literally how averages work.
The article obviously tries to highlight a systemic problem. Do we really need to put that much emphasis on avoiding any feeling of individual responsibility to the point where that’s no longer possible?
Nobody reading this puts the blame on someone in rural Tanzania. It’s a complete non-issue and definitely not what we should be focusing on coming from this very important article.
Close to zero. I haven’t bicycled regularly since I was teenager, but back then I did about 2000-5000km per year, and a set of tires weighed ~1kg and lasted 3-5 years, and most of the weight was not scrubbed off, but part of the regular waste.
@ajsadauskas @architektradim @fuck_cars I’m getting tired of the “eco” lobby
i remember about a decade ago when GM announced they had developed tires made out of mushrooms. but of course nothing came from it and i cant find anything online. anyone else remember?
