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UV Aging Enhances the Formation of Disinfection Byproducts from Tire Wear Particles upon Chlorination
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Tiny bits of tire rubber wash off roads into our water supply, and sunlight exposure makes them react differently when water is treated with chlorine — producing 1.5 to 2 times more byproducts, including a wider variety of chlorinated compounds that tend to be more harmful. This matters because tire particles are everywhere in the environment, and this research suggests that sun-damaged tire debris could make your tap or tap-sourced water contain more, and potentially more toxic, chemical byproducts than previously assumed.
The globally ubiquitous occurrence of tire wear particles (TWPs), formed from friction between tires and road surfaces, is a growing environmental concern. After release, they are exposed to environmental aging such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation and are transported to surface water and wastewater via runoff, raising significant water quality issues, particularly during chlorination treatment. This work investigated the impact of UV aging on the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) from TWPs upon water chlorination. Results demonstrate that UV aging increased total DBP formation by 1.5–2.0 times and markedly altered tire leachate composition. Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix parallel factor analysis revealed a 2–3-fold increase in humic-like, fulvic-like, and protein II-like components, alongside a 3.5-fold increase in electron-donating capacity, indicating oxidative polymer breakdown. Concurrently, a decrease in protein I-like material suggested its degradation or transformation. Crucially, UV aging generated over twice the number of distinct chlorinated byproducts. Notably, the profile shifted from predominantly aliphatic compounds in pristine conditions to include more halogenated aromatic species after UV aging. These findings demonstrate that environmental UV aging enhances the yield and alters the speciation of TWP-derived DBPs, promoting the formation of more diverse and potentially more toxic halogenated compounds.
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Accelerated transformation and enhanced gastrointestinal toxicity of tire wear particles during photo-chlorination mediated by reactive species
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Tiny plastic particles from worn tires end up in our water, and this study found that when they're exposed to both sunlight and chlorine (like what happens during water treatment), they break down faster and become more toxic than expected. In lab tests, these transformed particles caused more damage to human stomach cells and mouse intestinal tissue, including harming their ability to absorb nutrients. This suggests that the disinfection processes meant to make our water safer could actually make tire particle pollution more harmful to our gut health, a risk that current water treatment systems aren't designed to address.
Increased Aquatic Toxicity of Tire Wear Particles Following Oxidative Aging: Mechanism Insights into Matrix Loosening and Transformation Products
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Tiny bits of tire rubber wash into rivers and lakes, and this study found that sunlight and ozone exposure make them even more toxic over time, not less. As the particles break down, they release new chemical byproducts that made up nearly half of the harmful effects seen in zebrafish embryos, even at very low, real-world exposure levels. This matters because it suggests weathered tire particles in waterways could pose bigger risks to aquatic life (and potentially the food chain) than current safety testing accounts for, since most assessments don't look for these newly formed breakdown chemicals.
Effects of UV light on physicochemical changes in thermoplastic polyurethanes: Mechanism and disinfection byproduct formation
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Researchers examined how UV light exposure changes the properties of thermoplastic polyurethane microplastics in water and whether those changes affect the formation of harmful disinfection byproducts during water chlorination. They found that UV exposure broke the plastic into smaller fragments and released soluble chemicals that significantly increased byproduct formation after chlorination. The findings suggest that aging microplastics in water systems could contribute to the creation of potentially harmful chemicals during standard water treatment.
UV aging of microplastic polymers promotes their chemical transformation and byproduct formation upon chlorination
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Researchers studied how UV aging of different microplastic polymers affects their behavior during water chlorination treatment. They found that UV aging significantly increased the reactivity of polyamide and polyester microplastics, promoting the release of harmful organic compounds and the formation of disinfection byproducts by more than 10-fold. The study reveals that weathered microplastics in drinking water systems may generate more toxic byproducts during standard chlorination than their pristine counterparts.
Behavior of compounds leached from tire tread particles under simulated sunlight exposure
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This study examined what happens to chemicals that leach from tire tread particles when exposed to sunlight. While sunlight broke down about a third of the leached compounds, it also created new transformation products, some of which may be more harmful than the originals. Since tire particles are a major source of microplastics in waterways, understanding how their chemicals change in sunlight is important for assessing real-world health risks.
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