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The emission characteristics, environmental and health impacts of tire wear particles: A review
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This review summarizes existing research on tiny particles worn off tires, which range from coarse dust to invisible nanoparticles. It describes how these particles spread through air, soil and water, affect soil chemistry and harm aquatic life, and cause lung inflammation and cell damage in laboratory studies, though direct evidence of harm to human health remains limited.
The issue of tire wear particle (TWP) emissions has gained increasing prominence in recent years. This review summarizes the tracer compounds, emission characteristics, ecological effects, and health impacts of TWPs. TWPs are composed of metals and complex organic compounds, by weight, most particles are relatively coarse (2.1 to 10 micrometers wide). However, by sheer number, the vast majority are invisible, ultra-fine nanoparticles (15 to 60 nanometers wide). Notably, the size distributions of TWPs substantially overlap with those of brake wear particles (BWPs), although BWPs span a broader overall particle-size range. Scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) measurements alone cannot reliably distinguish TWPs from BWPs and may therefore lead to an overestimation of TWP-related particle number, necessitating complementary morphological and chemical analyses for accurate source identification. In the environment, TWPs migrate through atmospheric dispersion and surface runoff across environmental media (air‒soil‒water), while their transport and accumulation are strongly dependent on environmental conditions and particle characteristics. Their primary environmental impacts include polluting the atmosphere with particulate matter, altering soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, and harming aquatic organisms. Experimental studies have reported pulmonary inflammation, cellular dysfunction, and fibrotic changes following TWP exposure, whereas direct epidemiological evidence linking TWP exposure to human disease remains limited. Future research should focus on optimizing sampling methodologies, establishing chemical fingerprint databases, and elucidating toxicological mechanisms.
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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.
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 crumb in the environment: a review on occurrence, fate and recent advances in detection and analysis
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This review provides a comprehensive assessment of tire wear particles as environmental contaminants, covering their physical and chemical properties, occurrence across environmental matrices, and detection methods. Researchers found that tire wear particles are present in air, water, and soil worldwide but remain difficult to quantify due to their variable density, aging behavior, and lack of standardized detection protocols. The study highlights the urgent need for consistent analytical methods to better understand how these particles move through and impact the environment.
Risk assessment of tire wear in the environment – a literature review
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This review assesses the environmental risks of tire wear emissions, which release microplastic-like particles containing polymers and potentially toxic chemicals into water and soil. While initial risk estimates suggest low risk from the particulate emissions themselves, the chemicals that leach from tire particles remain poorly characterized. The findings are relevant to human health because tire wear is one of the largest sources of microplastic pollution, and the leached chemicals may enter drinking water.
Tire wear particles in the aquatic environment - A review on generation, analysis, occurrence, fate and effects
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Researchers reviewed available science on tire wear particles (TWP) — tiny fragments shed from tires during driving — finding that Europe alone generates over 1.3 million tonnes per year, but critical data on environmental concentrations, transport to waterways, and aquatic toxicity remain too limited for robust ecological risk assessment.
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