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Tyre Wear Measurements Using the Marker SBR in a Technical Retrofit Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS)

Microplastics 2025 1 citation ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Johannes Wolfgang Neupert, Julia Stein, Daniel Venghaus, Matthias Barjenbruch

Summary

This study tested a drainage filter system designed to capture tyre wear particles from road runoff, finding it retained about two-thirds of tyre-derived rubber particles under extreme driving conditions. Even though the filter had a nominal cutoff size, particles as small as 6 µm were found in the captured mass, with the highest concentrations in the 20–63 µm fraction. Tyre wear particles are a major but often overlooked source of microplastic pollution in waterways, and this work helps evaluate how well mitigation infrastructure actually performs.

Polymers

Technical retrofit Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDSs) are a suitable option in the numerous mitigation measures to reduce the amount of tyre wear entering the environment. In the study presented here, such a filter system was tested under extreme conditions at the ADAC Driving Safety Centre Berlin-Brandenburg. Despite a technical separation limit of 125 or 250 µm of the filter systems, particles > 6 µm were measured in the retained masses. In addition, the marker SBR was used to determine the residues of tyre wear in the filter system using the TED-GC-MS analysis method. The highest concentrations were found in the 20–63 µm fraction. The results indicate that tyre wear particles become smaller due to high forces generated by braking and cornering. Test stand investigations indicate a retention efficiency of the filter system of 2/3 of the tyre wear. Furthermore, the results show that the parameter ‘Total Suspended Solids < 63 µm’ (TSS63) is a relevant evaluation parameter for the road runoff.

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