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Behavior of compounds leached from tire tread particles under simulated sunlight exposure
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This study examined what happens to chemicals that leach from tire tread particles when exposed to sunlight. While sunlight broke down about a third of the leached compounds, it also created new transformation products, some of which may be more harmful than the originals. Since tire particles are a major source of microplastics in waterways, understanding how their chemicals change in sunlight is important for assessing real-world health risks.
Tire tread particles are microplastics (< 5 mm) and leach organic chemicals into aquatic environments. It is important to understand the behavior of tire wear compounds in sunlight-exposed waters in terms of their persistence, removal, and transformation. Therefore, we conducted photolysis experiments with leachates from laboratory-generated tire tread particles (TTP) over 72 h in a solar simulator to evaluate the behavior of leached compounds and fluorescent components over time. Compared to initial leachates, simulated sunlight exposure resulted in ∼12 % decrease in dissolved organic carbon, 11 % reduction in the total fluorescence of leachates, and ∼30 % removal of the 213 chromatographic features detected by nontargeted analysis (NTA) using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A decrease in total chemical abundance determined by NTA was observed, with normalized peak areas decreasing by 36.4% in the 72 h photoirradiated samples and by 13.6% in the dark samples. Fifty-three compounds were tentatively identifiable based on mass spectral matching and among them, 12 compounds were confirmed with authentic standards. Among the 53 compounds, 19 compounds were photo-labile, 27 were photo-resistant, and 7 were photo-transformation products. NTA also identified compounds previously unreported as tire-related compounds. Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) modeling of three-dimensional excitation-emission-matrix (EEM) data identified five fluorescent components. PARAFAC component C4 (excitation/emission peak at 285/445 nm) was found to be a fluorescent analog for 6PPD. Rapid double exponential decay kinetics were observed for the 6PPD-like component during photoirradiation. Similarly, the peak fluorescence of commercially available 6PPD exposed to simulated sunlight was reduced by >90 % in the first 0.5 h of photoirradiation. 6PPD photodegradation resulted in the production of a fluorescent transformation product resembling PARAFAC Component C2 (with emission at 360 nm). These results prove that EEM fluorescence analyses can serve as a rapid method for kinetics analysis of 6PPD, and may be combined with NTA compound tentative identification to track the behavior of other TTP-derived compounds in experimental studies.
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Effects of sunlight exposure on tire tread particle leachates: Chemical composition and toxicity in aquatic systems
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Researchers tested how sunlight exposure changes the chemical composition and toxicity of substances leaching from tire tread particles in water. They found that light-exposed tire particle leachates were significantly more toxic to zebrafish embryos, causing developmental abnormalities and reduced survival at lower concentrations. The study suggests that the environmental weathering of tire-derived microplastics can make their chemical releases more hazardous to aquatic life over time.
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.
Time-concentration profiles of tire particle additives and transformation products under natural and artificial aging
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Tiny rubber particles from tire wear release chemicals into the environment, and this study found that sunlight breaks down most of these chemicals within weeks to months. Notably, 6PPD-quinone, a tire chemical linked to killing fish, builds up quickly and then also breaks down fairly fast when exposed to sunlight, but it lingers much longer in dark conditions like soil or water sediment. This matters because it suggests that where tire particles end up (sunny surfaces vs. shaded waterways) affects how long these potentially harmful chemicals stick around in our environment.
Increased Aquatic Toxicity of Tire Wear Particles Following Oxidative Aging: Mechanism Insights into Matrix Loosening and Transformation Products
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Tiny bits of tire rubber wash into rivers and lakes, and this study found that sunlight and ozone exposure make them even more toxic over time, not less. As the particles break down, they release new chemical byproducts that made up nearly half of the harmful effects seen in zebrafish embryos, even at very low, real-world exposure levels. This matters because it suggests weathered tire particles in waterways could pose bigger risks to aquatic life (and potentially the food chain) than current safety testing accounts for, since most assessments don't look for these newly formed breakdown chemicals.
A study on the aquatic degradation of tire wear particles: Impact of environmental factors and material formulations
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This study investigated how tire wear particles degrade in aquatic environments, examining the effects of environmental factors such as UV exposure and water chemistry on particle breakdown. The results showed that aquatic degradation alters tire wear particles in ways that may increase their ecotoxicological risk.
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