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Tire wear particle and leachate induce oxidative stress and reshape the rice rhizosphere soil system: Multi-omics evidence of tissue-specific phytotoxicity
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Tiny particles that wear off car and truck tires are washing into soil and, this study finds, they can stress rice plants at high concentrations—damaging roots, disrupting their internal chemistry, and shifting the balance of soil microbes that plants depend on. Since rice is a staple food for billions, this raises questions about whether tire pollution building up in farmland soils could eventually affect crop health and food supplies, making it an environmental issue worth watching even though this study didn't directly test human health effects.
Tire wear particles (TWPs) are an emerging environmental contaminant of global concern, yet their impacts on terrestrial systems remain poorly characterized. This study investigated the phytotoxic effects of TWPs and tire leachate (TL) on rice paddy seedlings through an integrated analysis of soil properties, microbial diversity, and plant physiology. Rice seedlings were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations (0.1-10 g/kg soil) and TL solution (1-100%) for 28 days. Results revealed contrasting dose-response patterns: while low concentrations stimulated growth, high-dose TP significantly inhibited development and altered photosynthetic pigments concentrations. Root tissues exhibited substantial oxidative stress, characterized by significant malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation. High-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing showed a restructuring of the soil microbial community, with TL exposure shifting dominant taxa toward phyla associated with the degradation of complex organic compounds. Structural integration via partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) achieved a Goodness of Fit (GoF) of 0.67, confirming a robust statistical link between tire-derived contamination and biological decline. Crucially, targeted metabolomics revealed tissue-specific metabolic reprogramming. Roots showed greater sensitivity than leaves, marked by the accumulation of stress-related amino acids (e.g., proline and GABA) and the depletion of key TCA cycle intermediates (e.g., malic and succinic acid). This indicated a metabolic shift from primary growth toward oxidative defense and energy compensation. These findings demonstrate that tire-derived contaminants pose a significant risk to the soil-plant-microbe system, highlighting root oxidative health and metabolic stability as critical endpoints for assessing the impact of traffic-related pollution on terrestrial productivity.
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Beyond Microplastics: How Tire Wear Particles Influence Plant Performance
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Scientists reviewed research on tiny particles that come off car tires when we drive, which end up in soil everywhere and are different from regular plastic pollution. These tire particles release toxic chemicals that can harm plants by damaging their roots and changing the soil around them, which could affect our food supply. This matters because tire pollution is everywhere but has been overlooked compared to other types of plastic pollution, and we need more research to understand the long-term risks to crops and ecosystems.
Tire Wear Particles Inhibit Tomato Growth and Disrupt Rhizosphere Microbial Function
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Scientists found that tiny particles from tire wear can seriously harm tomato plants, reducing their growth by more than half and disrupting the helpful bacteria in soil. The smallest tire particles (100 micrometers) were the most toxic, damaging the plants' ability to photosynthesize and creating harmful stress in their cells. This matters because these tire particles are everywhere in our environment and could reduce crop yields while making soil less healthy for growing the food we eat.
Photosynthetic dysfunction and antioxidant defense disruption in rice seedlings induced by tire wear microplastics
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Researchers exposed rice seedlings to tire wear microplastics and found that while particles stimulated short-term growth, they significantly suppressed photosynthetic electron transport rates and inhibited key antioxidant enzymes — indicating that apparent growth benefits mask underlying physiological stress in agricultural settings.
Integrating metabolomics and high-throughput sequencing to investigate the effects of tire wear particles on mung bean plants and soil microbial communities.
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Tire wear particles at realistic concentrations (0.1-1.5% soil weight) inhibited mung bean growth, altered root metabolite profiles, and shifted soil microbial community structure, indicating that road-derived plastic contaminants can disrupt soil-plant systems in agricultural settings.
Tire abrasion particles negatively affect plant growth even at low concentrations and alter soil biogeochemical cycling
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Researchers found that tire abrasion particles—a major source of microplastic pollution on land—negatively affected plant growth and disrupted soil nutrient cycling even at low concentrations. This is concerning because tire particles are shed in enormous quantities on roads and accumulate in roadside soils where plants grow.
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