Toxic effects of tire wear particle leachate on benthic fish Misgurnus anguillicaudatus: An integrated assessment of immunosuppression, metabolic disruption, and microbiome dysbiosis across concentration gradients

Divergent impacts of leached versus pristine tire wear particles on zebrafish: From physiological stress to gut microbiota dysbiosis

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Researchers exposed zebrafish to tire wear particles that had been leached with water or methanol to remove chemical extractables, finding that leaching shifts the primary hazard from acute chemical toxicity toward chronic tissue damage and gut microbiome dysbiosis — with methanol-leached particles causing the most severe injury and collapsing gut microbial diversity by over 60%.

Tire wear particle leachate-induced hepatotoxicity in Carassius auratus: Associations with gut microbiota dysbiosis and lipid metabolism disorder

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Chemicals leaching from tire wear particles (tiny bits of rubber that wash off roads into waterways) caused liver damage, gut bacteria imbalances, and disrupted fat metabolism in fish exposed to environmentally realistic levels over 28 days. While this study was done in fish, not humans, it's a warning sign worth watching, tire particles are a widespread and growing pollutant in our water systems, and this research suggests they could harm the health of aquatic life we may eventually eat or interact with, making it worth understanding how these hidden pollutants move through the environment.

Toxicity assessment of environmentally relevant microplastics and tire particles on adult zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Toxicity Effects of Microplastics and Tire Particles on Daphnia magna

Trophic Transfer impact of combined Microplastics and Tire particles in three-species freshwater food chain

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Scientists studied how tiny plastic bits and tire particles (both common pollutants that wash into lakes and rivers) move up the food chain, from tiny organisms to small fish to bigger fish. The findings suggest these particles don't just disappear in the water; they can build up and pass from one animal to the next, meaning the fish we eventually eat may carry these pollutants too. This matters because it hints at a hidden pathway for plastic pollution to reach our dinner plates, though more research is needed to know exactly how this affects human health.