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What are the toxic components of microplastics? Investigating the overlooked role of particles vs chemical leachates as microplastic toxicity drivers
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Researchers disentangled the toxicological roles of car tire rubber (CTR) particles versus their chemical leachates by exposing early life stages of Atlantic cod to pre-leached CTR particles, 7-day leachate, and pristine CTR, finding that leachate and pristine CTR significantly reduced hatching success and increased mortality while pre-leached particles had no significant effects.
Knowledge remains limited regarding the effects of plastics and their associated chemicals. Importantly, there is a lack of studies successfully deconvoluting particle and leached chemical effects on organisms. This study aimed to unravel the role of car tire rubber (CTR, used as MP model material) as a pollutant particle and as a carrier of chemicals, and thus distinguish between the effects derived from MPs from those resulting from associated chemicals. Early life stages of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were used to study the effects of three different components of CTR were: 1) CTR particles (50-1000 µm) pre-leached for 30 days to allow quantitative desorption of associated chemicals, 2) chemicals leached from the CTR over seven days, and 3) pristine CTR particles (pCTR) not subjected to any pre-treatment and thus including all the associated chemicals. Each treatment was tested at 1, 10 and 100 mg L-1 particles for 4 days, followed by a recovery period of ca. 11 days. Differences in the chemical composition of particles and associated exposures were verified using GC-MS and pyrolysis GC-MS. Investigated effect endpoints included survival and mortality, hatching success, developmental alterations assessed by morphometric measurements and expression of 15 genes. Leachate and pCTR exposures led to significantly lower hatching success and increased mortality compared to the pre-leached particles, which did not have any significant effect. Further, larvae exposed to pCTR showed a smaller eye diameter and an increased yolk/body fraction. Only leachates affected eye-to-front distance in a dose-dependent way. Larvae exposed to leachates and pCTR also showed significant reduction in the myotome length. Results demonstrate that associated chemicals and not the physical particles are the main CTR toxicity drivers for the endpoints studied. Further research should be directed towards understanding if this is extendable also to other types of plastic- and rubber-based materials. Also see: https://micro2022.sciencesconf.org/427100/document
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Particles, chemicals or both? Assessing the drivers of the multidimensional toxicity of car tire rubber microplastic on early life stages of Atlantic cod
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This study separated the effects of tire rubber particles from the chemicals they release, testing both on developing Atlantic cod. The chemicals leached from tire rubber were the main driver of toxicity, reducing hatching success and increasing larval death, while the particles alone had minimal effect. This is significant because tire wear is one of the largest sources of microplastic pollution, and the findings suggest the chemicals they carry are more dangerous than the particles themselves.
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Researchers tested chemical leachates from five types of common plastic and car tire rubber microplastics for their effects on algae and mussels. Car tire rubber and PVC produced the most toxic leachates, containing compounds like benzothiazole and zinc that significantly inhibited algal growth. The study reveals that the chemical additives leaching from degrading plastics may pose a greater immediate risk to aquatic organisms than the physical particles themselves.
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Researchers compared the toxicity of micro, nano, and leachate fractions of three rubber materials—including tire rubber—to freshwater organisms. Nano-fractions and leachates generally showed higher toxicity than larger rubber particles, with leached chemicals driving much of the observed biological harm.
Microplastics and tire wear particles in aquatic environment: A comparative review on generation, characteristics and environmental behavior
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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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Researchers assessed the acute toxicity of leachates from recycled rubber crumbs and biodegradable bio-rubber alternatives on marine planktonic organisms, addressing limited data on how these materials affect aquatic life. Both recycled rubber and bio-rubber leachates showed measurable toxicity to marine plankton at tested concentrations.
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