We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Chemical characterization and temperature dependence of volatile submicron tire wear particles formed by evaporation–condensation
AI summary Read the abstract
When tires get hot enough (from friction while driving), they can release tiny, invisible particles into the air, not just the visible rubber bits worn off the road. This study found that these heat-released particles have a chemical fingerprint so similar to smoke from wood or biomass burning that air quality monitors could easily mix them up, which matters because it affects how accurately scientists track pollution sources in cities. Understanding this distinction is an important step toward figuring out how much of the tiny, breathable particle pollution in urban air actually comes from tires, since these ultra-small particles are the ones most likely to get deep into our lungs.
Tire wear particles can form via two distinct pathways—mechanical abrasion and evaporation–condensation—resulting in aerosol particles with different size ranges and chemical signatures. This study investigates the volatile submicron fraction produced via evaporation–condensation by generating seed-coated aerosols from seven tire materials in a tube furnace and characterizing them using a soot-particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SP-AMS) coupled with SMPS measurements. Across all tires, particle growth onsets occurred at Tgo ≈ 144–163 °C and new particle formation associated with high-temperature “smoldering” at Tso ≈ 178–200 °C, with systematic differences between passenger-car and heavy-duty tires. The composition of the volatilized tire-derived aerosol particles was dominated by hydrocarbon fragment ions (e.g., m/z 41, 43, 55, 57, 69) with a distinct aromatic contribution at m/z 91 (C7H7+), and the particles also contained oxygenated fragments at m/z 60 and 73 that are commonly attributed to biomass burning, highlighting potential source–attribution ambiguity in urban environments. Comparison with mechanically generated tire dust showed enrichment of unsaturated and higher-mass hydrocarbon fragments in the non-volatilized material, consistent with lower volatility. These results provide reference SP-AMS signatures and temperature-dependent indicators for volatile tire-derived submicron aerosol and support interpretation of laboratory and ambient measurements of tire wear emissions.
More Papers Like This
Chemical characterization and temperature dependence of volatile submicron tire wear particles formed by evaporation–condensation
AI summary Read the abstract
When tires get hot, like from friction on the road, they can release tiny invisible particles that form through evaporation, not just from bits of rubber flaking off, and these particles are small enough to potentially breathe deep into your lungs. This study found a chemical "fingerprint" for these tire-derived particles, but it also discovered they can look surprisingly similar to smoke particles from wood burning, meaning some air pollution currently blamed on wildfires or wood stoves might actually be coming from hot tires. This matters because it could change how scientists estimate your true exposure to traffic-related air pollution in cities.
Chemical characterization and temperature dependence of volatile submicron tire wear particles formed by evaporation–condensation
AI summary Read the abstract
When tires get hot enough (from friction with the road), they can release tiny invisible particles that float in the air we breathe, not just the bigger dust bits we can see. This study found the chemical "fingerprint" of these heat-formed particles closely resembles smoke from wood or biomass burning, meaning some air pollution currently blamed on smoke might actually be coming from hot tires, an important distinction for understanding what's really in the air near busy roads.
Chemical tracers for assessing the contribution of tire wear particles in atmospheric aerosol: analytical approaches, challenges and future perspectives
AI summary Read the abstract
Every time your car's tires grip the road, they shed tiny plastic particles that become part of the air pollution you breathe, and this can account for more air pollution than what comes out of your tailpipe. This review paper looks at the scientific methods used to detect these tire particles in air pollution and finds that there's currently no reliable single test for them, meaning scientists still need better tools to figure out exactly how much of the air we breathe contains this tire-derived microplastic pollution and its associated chemicals. This matters because until we can accurately measure it, it's hard to fully assess the health risks these particles and their leaching chemicals may pose.
About the variability of tire and road wear marker components in air: from emissions to atmospheric deposition
AI summary Read the abstract
Scientists developed a new method to track tiny particles that come from car tires wearing down on roads, which are now recognized as one of the biggest sources of microplastic pollution worldwide. They found these tire particles can travel far from roads through the air and change into different chemicals, including some that may be harmful. This matters because these airborne tire particles could pose risks to human health and the environment, but we're just starting to understand how much is actually in the air we breathe.
Characteristics of Real-world Non-exhaust Particulates from Vehicles
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers characterized non-exhaust particulate emissions from vehicle tire and road wear, collecting atmospheric PM samples with a high-volume quartz filter sampler and using pyrolysis-GC/MS to analyze tire rubber markers including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals, quantifying the contribution of tire-brake-road wear particles to urban air pollution.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.