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Tire Wear Particle Emissions: A Review of Measurement Approaches and Impact on Reported Results
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Every time a car's tires roll down the road, they shed tiny particles—including microplastics—into the air we breathe, but this review of existing research finds that scientists don't yet agree on how to accurately measure this pollution. Different labs testing the same tires get wildly different results depending on their methods, which means we still don't have a clear, reliable picture of how much of this particle pollution we're actually exposed to. Until measurement methods are standardized, it's hard to know the true health risks from tire pollution—a problem worth solving given how much time people spend near roads.
Tire-related emissions account for a significant proportion of traffic-related emissions. However, unlike brakes, the measurement of tire wear and airborne tire wear particle emissions is not yet standardized. On the contrary, there are numerous research approaches. This paper provides an overview on test procedures to measure tire wear and airborne particle emissions from tires that are described in literature. These methods include laboratory tests such as inner and outer drums, as well as measurements on road simulators, test tracks or public roads. Since wear mechanisms may differ depending on the test setup, a short overview on wear mechanisms is given. The measurement equipment used to evaluate the particle number (PN) and the particle mass (PM 2.5 , PM 10 ) is described in detail, as well as the specific test setups. Finally, a comparison is shown of values for PN and PM presented in the literature. The results show clear differences in the measurement results for PM 10 and PM 2.5 , even when subdivided into indoor and outdoor measurements. The same applies to PN. This highlights substantial differences in controllability, representativeness, and measurement uncertainty among methods shown in literature.
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This review examines the analytical challenges involved in measuring tire-road wear particles, one of the largest sources of microplastic emissions. Researchers cataloged the wide range of methods used to detect and quantify these particles, noting that their varied size, shape, density, and chemical makeup make consistent measurement difficult. The study highlights the need for standardized analytical approaches so that results from different studies can be meaningfully compared.
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Researchers compared different methods for sampling tire wear particle emissions under various test conditions, finding significant methodological differences that affect measurement outcomes and highlighting the need for standardized approaches as non-exhaust emissions become an increasing share of total vehicle pollution.
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This review provides an overview of tire road and wear particles as a major source of microplastic emissions, examining both experimental and mathematical approaches to measuring tire wear. The study notes that while tire wear particles are found in alarming amounts across various environments, they remain less studied than other microplastics, and calls for more accurate simulation models to predict tire wear emissions.
Airborne Tire Wear Particles: A Critical Reanalysis of the Literature Reveals Emission Factors Lower than Expected
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Researchers systematically reviewed primary literature on airborne tire wear particle emissions and found that widely cited secondary-literature emission factors (mean 6.5 mg/km/vehicle) are substantially inflated compared to primary-source measurements (mean 1.1 mg/km/vehicle), largely due to cascading misquotations dating back to 1995.
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