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Urban wash-off of tire wear particles
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Researchers used a rainfall simulator to study how tire wear particles, an important class of microplastics, are washed off road surfaces during storm events. They found that low surface roughness, high rainfall intensity, and low slope produced the fastest and most complete mobilization of tire wear particles. The study reveals that larger tire particles moved faster than smaller ones, and flow depth was the most important factor governing wash-off behavior.
• Like mineral sediment, TWP wash-off increases with low roughness and high rainfall. • Unlike mineral sediment, TWP wash-off increases with low slope and larger particles. • Mobilized large TWPs (>1000 µm) moved faster than small particles (<125 µm) • Flow depth most important parameter governing TWP wash-off. Tire wear particles (TWPs) are an important class of microplastics due to their toxicity and abundance. Because most TWPs are generated on impervious road surfaces, urban wash-off is the critical first phase of waterborne transport from their zone of production to stormwater drainage. However, little is known about the driving factors behind their mobilization. In this study, we use a rainfall simulator to investigate how surface roughness, rainfall intensity, and surface slope affect wash-off behaviors of TWPs. We also analyze how the size and shape of mobilized TWPs change over the course of simulated storm events. We found that low surface roughness, high rainfall intensity (most significant factor), and low slope result in the most rapid conveyance of TWP load. On average, large particles (>1000 µm) travelled faster than small particles (<125 µm). Particle shape explained a very small amount of variance in TWP wash-off velocity but was found to be more important under higher surface roughness conditions. In addition to wash-off velocity, we found similar conditions controlled the percent mobilization of TWPs. Low surface roughness and high rainfall intensity resulting in higher TWP wash-off rates is consistent with mineral sediment wash-off behavior. Conversely, low surface slope and large particle size leading to faster conveyance is directly opposed to mineral sediment wash-off. Our findings suggest drag-dominated flow, and that sufficient runoff depth is the most important parameter governing TWP wash-off. These findings are important first steps to understanding wash-off behaviors of TWPs and informing future modeling efforts and mitigation strategies.
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