Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The effect of tire microplastics on aerobic granular sludge performance

Researchers exposed aerobic granular sludge — a wastewater treatment microbe community — to tire-derived microplastics and found that while nutrient removal stayed largely intact, tire particles built up to over half the biomass at high doses and altered the microbial community in ways that increase antibiotic resistance genes. The results show that tire microplastics reaching wastewater plants pose a hidden challenge for sludge management and microbial safety.

2025 Emerging contaminants 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Tire materials disturb transformations of nitrogen compounds and affect the structure of biomass in aerobic granular sludge reactors

Tire-derived microplastics and their chemical additives were fed into laboratory wastewater treatment reactors, where they reduced nitrogen removal efficiency and physically changed the structure of treatment granules. Importantly, aerobic granular sludge bacteria were able to biodegrade several toxic tire additives including benzothiazole, suggesting that biological treatment systems have some capacity to handle tire pollution — but only if tire material concentrations remain manageable.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of Tire Microplastics on Aerobic Granular Sludge Structure and EPS Composition Under Continuous and Intermittent Aeration

Researchers added tire microplastics at concentrations of 50–500 mg/L to aerobic granular sludge reactors and found that increasing concentrations reduced granule size under continuous aeration but increased it under intermittent aeration, while total extracellular polymeric substances declined across both conditions.

2025 Applied Sciences
Article Tier 2

Impact of Tire-Derived Microplastics on Microbiological Activity of Aerobic Granular Sludge

This study examined how tire wear particle microplastics — a ubiquitous contaminant in urban stormwater — affect the bacteria responsible for removing nitrogen from wastewater in biological treatment reactors. At increasing tire particle concentrations, bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrate became more active, while bacteria that complete denitrification (converting nitrogen to harmless gas) were significantly suppressed. This imbalance could cause wastewater treatment plants to release more nitrogen into receiving waterways, potentially worsening nutrient pollution and algal blooms. The findings underscore a previously underappreciated way that tire microplastics can impair wastewater treatment infrastructure.

2025 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Determination of aerobic and anaerobic biological degradability of waste tyres

Researchers examined the aerobic and anaerobic biodegradability of waste tire rubber in aquatic environments, finding very limited biological degradation under both conditions, confirming that tire-derived particles persist as long-term environmental contaminants.

2023 Environmental Sciences Europe 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Leaching hazards of tire wear particles in hydrothermal treatment of sludge: Exploring molecular composition, transformation mechanism, and ecological effects of tire wear particle-derived compounds

When sewage sludge containing tire wear particles was treated with high heat and pressure, the process accelerated the release of harmful chemicals from the tire rubber into the liquid byproduct. Researchers identified 144 different chemical compounds leaching from the tire particles, many of which were toxic to aquatic organisms and plants -- highlighting how waste treatment processes can inadvertently spread tire-derived microplastic pollution.

2024 Water Research 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Enhancing Biogas Production Amidst Microplastic Contamination in Wastewater Treatment Systems: A Strategic Review

This review examines how microplastic pollution, including tire-derived particles, interferes with wastewater treatment processes and explores strategies to optimize biogas production in systems affected by microplastic contamination.

2024 Energies 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the effects and mechanisms of microplastics on anaerobic fermentation: Exploring microbial communities and metabolic pathways

Researchers investigated how five types of microplastics affect the anaerobic fermentation process used to treat sewage sludge. They found that polyethylene microplastics caused the greatest reduction in volatile fatty acid production, while polyvinyl chloride had the least impact, and all types disrupted microbial communities in distinct ways. The study suggests that microplastic contamination in wastewater could meaningfully interfere with sludge treatment efficiency.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of tire wear particles with and without photoaging on anaerobic biofilm sulfide production in sewers and related mechanisms

Researchers investigated how tire wear particles, both fresh and photoaged, affect sulfide production in sewer biofilms, finding that photoaging altered particle surface properties and leachate composition, influencing microbial sulfide generation in anaerobic sewer environments.

2022 Chemosphere 29 citations
Article Tier 2

The difference between tire wear particles and polyethylene microplastics in stormwater filtration systems: Perspectives from aging process, conventional pollutants removal and microbial communities

Researchers compared how tire wear particles and polyethylene microplastics behave in stormwater filtration systems used to treat urban runoff. They found that tire wear particles leached more toxic chemicals and supported different microbial communities than conventional microplastics, leading to distinct effects on pollutant removal. The study highlights that tire wear particles deserve separate consideration from other microplastics when designing stormwater treatment infrastructure.

2024 Environmental Pollution 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging increases the particulate- and leachate-induced toxicity of tire wear particles to microalgae.

Researchers found that environmental aging of tire wear particles increases their toxicity to marine microalgae beyond that of fresh particles, with aged particles triggering greater oxidative stress, photosynthesis disruption, and metabolic changes in the algae.

2024 Water research
Article Tier 2

Deciphering the inhibition mechanisms of microplastics on the full-stage sludge anaerobic digestion via enrichment to anaerobic microbes and toxicity of released compounds

This study found that microplastics in sewage sludge significantly interfere with the waste treatment process by reducing the activity of key microorganisms needed to break down waste. More than half of the negative effect came from toxic chemicals released when microplastic particles rub against sludge, and the disrupted treatment also increased the risk of spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 21 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxic effects of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) on the surface of tire wear particles on freshwater biofilms: The alleviating role after sewage-incubation-aging

Researchers investigated how tire wear particles affect freshwater biofilms, which are communities of microorganisms that play important roles in aquatic ecosystems. They found that reactive chemical compounds on the surface of fresh tire particles caused significant toxicity, reducing photosynthesis and biological activity in the biofilms. The study suggests that aging in sewage environments reduces the toxicity of tire wear particles by breaking down these harmful surface chemicals.

2023 Chemosphere 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploring the toxicity of the aged styrene-butadiene rubber microplastics to petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria under compound pollution system

Researchers explored how aging affects the toxicity of styrene-butadiene rubber microplastics toward petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria, finding that aged microplastics had different physical and chemical properties that altered bacterial degradation capacity.

2021 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Aging of Tire Particles in Deep-Sea Conditions: Interactions between Hydrostatic Pressure, Prokaryotic Growth and Chemical Leaching.

This laboratory study simulated deep-sea conditions to investigate how high hydrostatic pressure and prokaryotic biofilms affect tire particle aging. Deep-sea pressure and microbial colonization altered the physical and chemical properties of tire particles, with implications for their long-term fate as a microplastic sink.

2025 Environmental science & technology
Article Tier 2

A comparative analysis of the chemical composition and biofilm formation on tire wear particles from six different tire types

Researchers analyzed the chemical composition and biofilm communities forming on tire-wear particles compared to other microplastic types, finding that tire wear particles support distinct microbial assemblages. The unique surface chemistry of tire wear particles may promote the attachment of pathogens and toxin-producing microorganisms.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Advanced understanding of the natural forces accelerating aging and release of black microplastics (tire wear particles) based on mechanism and toxicity analysis

Tire wear particles, a major but often overlooked source of microplastics in water, release heavy metals (especially zinc) and toxic organic chemicals as they age under sunlight and heat. The aging process increases the toxicity of these released substances to cells, raising concerns about long-term health effects from this widespread form of microplastic pollution.

2024 Water Research 43 citations
Article Tier 2

Inhibition of aged microplastics and leachates on methane production from anaerobic digestion of sludge and identification of key components

Researchers investigated the effects of aged microplastics and their leachates on sludge anaerobic digestion, finding that aged PVC and PET significantly inhibited methane production, with phthalate esters and bisphenol A identified as key inhibitory components.

2023 Journal of Hazardous Materials 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Effect of polystyrene microplastics on the volatile fatty acids production from waste activated sludge fermentation

Researchers studied how different concentrations of polystyrene microplastics affect volatile fatty acid production during anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge. Low microplastic concentrations significantly increased fatty acid production by enhancing solubilization and enzyme activity, while high concentrations decreased production by suppressing microbial activity. The findings suggest that microplastic contamination levels in wastewater sludge can either promote or hinder resource recovery depending on concentration.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Different Pathways of Microplastics Entering the Sludge Treatment System Distinctively Affect Anaerobic Sludge Fermentation Processes

Researchers developed a more realistic method for studying how microplastics affect anaerobic sludge fermentation by adding multiple types of microplastics to the wastewater treatment process rather than directly to sludge. They found that the pathway by which microplastics enter the system significantly influences fermentation outcomes, with the realistic approach showing different effects on short-chain fatty acid production than direct addition. The study suggests that previous research may not accurately represent real-world impacts of microplastics on sludge treatment.

2021 Environmental Science & Technology 84 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental occurrence, fate, impact, and potential solution of tire microplastics: Similarities and differences with tire wear particles

This review examines tire microplastics, one of the most abundant types of microplastics in the environment, which come from tire wear on roads, recycled tire rubber, and tire repair dust. These particles carry a complex mix of chemicals including heavy metals and organic pollutants that can harm aquatic and soil organisms. Since tire microplastics end up in waterways and soil near roads, they represent a significant but often overlooked source of human microplastic exposure.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 259 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of tire wear particles and the leachates to microorganisms in marine sediments

Researchers investigated the toxicity of tire wear particles and their chemical leachates on bacteria in marine sediments. The study found that aged tire wear particles were more toxic than pristine ones, and that leachates were even more harmful than the particles themselves, with zinc identified as the primary toxicity-causing substance.

2022 Environmental Pollution 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Sewage Sludge in Farmlands: A Gateway to Soil Microplastic Pollution?

Researchers analysed microplastic contamination in dewatered anaerobically digested sewage sludge and adjacent agricultural fields in the UK with varied sludge application histories, using fluorescence microscopy and FTIR/Raman spectroscopy to detect predominantly polyethylene, polyester, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC, and polyamide particles.

2024
Article Tier 2

UV and thermal degradation of tire derivatives: A comparative study of unused tires, recycled tire chips, and tire and road wear particles

Researchers compared UV and thermal aging behavior of unused tires, recycled tire chips, and tire and road wear particles, finding that material history and particle size influenced degradation rate and benzothiazole leaching—a marker of toxicological concern from tire-derived microplastics.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials Plastics