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From Roadside Air to the Soil Interface: Atmospheric Deposition and Subsequent Environmental Behavior of Tire Additives
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This review summarizes existing research on chemicals released from tire wear, tracking how they travel from roadside air into soil and plants. It finds these processes vary by chemical, and that separating air deposition from other sources, like runoff, remains difficult, with terrestrial and human health risks still unclear.
Tire additives are released during tire wear and can enter roadside air with fresh or resuspended particles and, for some compounds, through volatilization. Once airborne, they may partition between gas and particle phases, undergo atmospheric transformation, and reach terrestrial surfaces through dry and wet deposition. However, how much atmospheric deposition contributes to the transfer of tire additives from roadside air to soils and plants remains unclear. This review traces major tire additives and their transformation products from their occurrence, phase partitioning, and transformation in the atmosphere, through deposition, to their subsequent fate at the soil–plant interface. Available evidence shows that these processes are strongly compound-specific. Some additives remain mainly particle-associated, whereas others have substantial gas-phase fractions, and environmental aging can further change both parent compounds and transformation products before deposition. Field studies confirm the deposition of tire and road wear particles and selected tire additives, while controlled soil and plant experiments show retention, transformation, release, and plant uptake after environmental entry. However, the contribution of atmospheric deposition to additive burdens in field soils and crops is still difficult to separate from runoff, irrigation, road splash, and other rubber-related sources. Acute toxicity of N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine quinone (6PPD-Q) is well established in highly sensitive aquatic species, whereas risks associated with atmospheric deposition in terrestrial systems and humans remain poorly characterized. Overall, atmospheric deposition represents a possible pathway by which tire additives are transferred from roadside air to terrestrial environments. Quantifying its contribution will require phase-resolved measurements, robust source attribution, and coordinated monitoring across air, deposition, soil, and plants.
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Waste Tire Composition and Environmental Impacts: a Systematic Review of Chemical Constituents, Release Pathways, and Pollution Risks
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This review of 30 studies shows that worn tires release tiny particles, chemicals, and microplastics into air, water, and soil, some of which are known health hazards. As these particles are already turning up in the environment, understanding how they spread matters for reducing our exposure. The researchers also point to recycling methods that could help cut this pollution.
Tire and Road Wear Particles as Vectors of Hydrophobic Tire Additives: Quantifying Contributions to Chlorinated Paraffins in Urban Road Environments
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Tiny particles worn off tires as they roll on roads aren't just plastic pollution — they also carry chemical additives called chlorinated paraffins, which are used in tire manufacturing and linked to health concerns. Researchers found these chemicals in road dust and roadside soil at levels showing that tire particles are a major source, contributing anywhere from 5% to over 44% of these chemicals depending on the location. Since this dust settles in places where people live, work, and play, it means tire wear may be spreading potentially harmful chemicals through our everyday environment more than previously realized.
Tire/Tyre Wear Particles in the Terrestrial Environment: A Critical Scoping Review
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Every time tires roll on pavement, they shed tiny particles that end up in soil, dust, and waterways—and this review pulls together five years of research on where these particles go and what harm they might cause. While scientists are still working out the full health picture, tire particles are known to carry chemicals linked to toxicity in animals and plants, raising concern about long-term human exposure through air, soil, and food chains. The takeaway: this is a fast-growing pollution source that needs better tracking and stronger policies, since we're still in the early stages of understanding how it could affect our health.
Chemical tracers for assessing the contribution of tire wear particles in atmospheric aerosol: analytical approaches, challenges and future perspectives
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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.
Leaching, photodegradation, and field occurrence of tire-derived chemicals and their transformation products: LC-HRMS-based target and suspect screening from laboratory to urban road runoff.
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Lab tests and road runoff samples were used to study chemicals released from tire wear particles, including how acidity and light affect their breakdown. Some chemicals leached more under acidic conditions, changed over time with light exposure, and several breakdown products were also found in road runoff alongside the original chemicals.
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