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Environmental Sources
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Occurrence of tire and bitumen wear microplastics on urban streets and in sweepsand and washwater
The Science of The Total Environment2020
266 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 45
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Helén Galfi,
Helén Galfi,
Helén Galfi,
Ida Järlskog,
Kerstin Magnusson
Helén Galfi,
Kerstin Magnusson
Kerstin Magnusson
Ida Järlskog,
Ida Järlskog,
Ida Järlskog,
Helén Galfi,
Maria Polukarova,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Ida Järlskog,
Helén Galfi,
Maria Polukarova,
Maria Polukarova,
Maria Polukarova,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Ida Järlskog,
Maria Aronsson,
Maria Aronsson,
Kerstin Magnusson
Mats Gustafsson,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Maria Polukarova,
Maria Polukarova,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ida Järlskog,
Kerstin Magnusson
Mats Gustafsson,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Kerstin Magnusson
Kerstin Magnusson
Kerstin Magnusson
Mats Gustafsson,
Mats Gustafsson,
Maria Polukarova,
Maria Polukarova,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Mats Gustafsson,
Mats Gustafsson,
Kerstin Magnusson
Kerstin Magnusson
Kerstin Magnusson
Kerstin Magnusson
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ida Järlskog,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Kerstin Magnusson
Helén Galfi,
Kerstin Magnusson
Ida Järlskog,
Helén Galfi,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Mats Gustafsson,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Mats Gustafsson,
Mats Gustafsson,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ida Järlskog,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Mats Gustafsson,
Kerstin Magnusson
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Maria Polukarova,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Kerstin Magnusson
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Helén Galfi,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Kerstin Magnusson
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Kerstin Magnusson
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Mats Gustafsson,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Helén Galfi,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Maria Polukarova,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Helén Galfi,
Maria Polukarova,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Mats Gustafsson,
Mats Gustafsson,
Kerstin Magnusson
Kerstin Magnusson
Helén Galfi,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Maria Aronsson,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Kerstin Magnusson
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Kerstin Magnusson
Maria Aronsson,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Ann‐Margret Strömvall,
Mats Gustafsson,
Mats Gustafsson,
Ida Järlskog,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Kerstin Magnusson
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Maria Aronsson,
Kerstin Magnusson
Maria Aronsson,
Maria Aronsson,
Maria Aronsson,
Kerstin Magnusson
Mats Gustafsson,
Kerstin Magnusson
Yvonne Andersson‐Sköld,
Kerstin Magnusson
Kerstin Magnusson
Summary
Tire tread wear and bitumen particles were the dominant anthropogenic microplastics found on urban roads and in sweeping waste and stormwater in a Norwegian study, with concentrations up to 2,561 particles per liter in road dust samples. Street sweeping removed significant quantities of these particles, and sodium iodide density separation proved effective for their analytical isolation.
Tire and road wear particles have been identified as a potential major source of microplastics in the environment. However, more knowledge of the emissions and their further fate in the environment is needed, and the effectiveness and benefits of potential measures must be investigated to support future risk management efforts. Here the concentrations of tire and bitumen microplastic particles (TBMP) on roads and in nearby in stormwater, sweepsand and washwater were measured for the first time within the same area and time period. The analysis also included plastic, paint and fiber particles. Road dust was sampled on the road surface using a wet dust sampler, before and after street sweeping on two occasions. On each of these occasions, and several occasions during a four-month period with frequent street sweeping, sweepsand and washwater, as well as flow-weighted sampling of stormwater, were collected. TBMP concentrations were operationally defined, using density separation for some samples, followed by analysis by stereo microscopy. Sodium iodide (NaI) was found to be effective for density separation of TBMP. The largest proportion of anthropogenic microplastics detected consisted of tire tread wear and bitumen. The number of TBMP ≥100 μm in the WDS samples was up to 2561 particles/L. Sweepsand and washwater contained high amounts of TBMP ≥100 μm, up to 2170 particles/kg dw and 4500 particles/L, respectively. The results show that the sweeper collects considerable amounts of TBMP, and thus weekly sweeping might prevent further transport of TBMP to the receiving stormwater. In stormwater the number of particles ≥100 μm was up to 3 particles/L and ≥ 20 μm was up to 5900 particles/L showing the importance of analysing smaller microparticle sizes than 100 μm in all samples in future studies. This study also confirms that there is a substantial volume of TBMP generated from traffic that enters the environment.