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Solvent-car tire rubber interactions in microplastic storage and analysis
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Researchers tested how car tire rubber reacts to different liquids, including water, ethanol, isopropanol and acetone, by tracking weight changes. Pure alcohols and acetone caused notable weight loss as chemicals leached out, including processing oils and antioxidants, while water caused little change, which matters for storing and analyzing rubber microplastic samples.
The interaction between vulcanized rubber and various solvents is of significant interest in environmental and materials analysis, particularly for microplastic storage, analysis, and recycling. In this study, the absorption and desorption kinetics of rubber specimens (composed of a typical car tire-tread material) when submerged in a solvent and during subsequent drying were examined by monitoring time-dependent mass changes. When submerged in water and dilute ethanol–water mixtures ( ≤ 50 % ethanol), the rubber exhibits a small mass gain < 1 % due to absorption. In contrast, pure ethanol and isopropanol cause mass loss of up to 13.5%, indicating that leaching dominates under these conditions. In acetone, the mass initially increases rapidly by 3.5% due to absorption before leaching takes over, and it loses 7.4% of its original mass. These results highlight the dual processes of absorption and leaching in rubber-solvent systems and emphasize the need for careful solvent selection when handling suspended rubber-based microplastics. During drying, water and low-% ethanol-water mixtures remain within < 1 % of their initial weight, whereas solvent desorption results in up to a 20% mass decrease in the other samples. Analysis of the leachate by IR spectroscopy, TGA, and Mass spectrometry revealed that the processing oils, shorter-chain additives, and antioxidants are most susceptible to leaching.
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This review examines tire microplastics, one of the most abundant types of microplastics in the environment, which come from tire wear on roads, recycled tire rubber, and tire repair dust. These particles carry a complex mix of chemicals including heavy metals and organic pollutants that can harm aquatic and soil organisms. Since tire microplastics end up in waterways and soil near roads, they represent a significant but often overlooked source of human microplastic exposure.
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Tiny bits of rubber worn off from car tires are actually one of the biggest sources of microplastic pollution in our water, yet they've gotten far less scientific attention than plastic microplastics from bottles and packaging. This review paper — which summarizes existing research rather than presenting new experiments — shows that tire particles behave differently, potentially leaching different chemicals and carrying pollutants in unique ways, meaning the safety testing methods designed for regular microplastics may not fully capture the risks tire particles pose to waterways and, ultimately, human health.
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