Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Tire wear particles in different water environments: occurrence, behavior, and biological effects—a review and perspectives

This review examines tire wear particles, a major but often overlooked source of microplastics in water environments. Tire particles release toxic chemicals as they break down in water and can harm aquatic organisms, but most research has focused only on the chemical leachate rather than the particles themselves. Since tire wear contributes a large share of total microplastic pollution, understanding its full impact on water ecosystems and the food chain is important for human health.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 39 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

A review of rubber tyre derived micro- and nanoplastics: fate, impact and risks

This systematic review examines microplastics generated from rubber tire wear, which are a major but often overlooked source of microplastic pollution. Tire particles spread through air, stormwater, and wastewater to contaminate both land and water. This is an important human health concern because tire-derived microplastics contain toxic chemicals and are found in the air people breathe and the water they drink.

2025 Environmental Geotechnics 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental risks of car tire microplastic particles and other road runoff pollutants

Researchers conducted the first comprehensive environmental risk assessment of tire wear microplastic particles and their associated chemical pollutants in European road runoff. They found that tire wear particles and several related chemicals pose measurable risks to organisms in surface water and sediment. The study suggests that tire wear is a significant but often overlooked source of microplastic pollution with real consequences for aquatic ecosystems.

2021 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 133 citations
Article Tier 2

Tyre Wear Particles in the Environment: Sources, Toxicity, and Remediation Approaches

This review examines tire wear particles, which account for a major share of global microplastic pollution with 1.3 million metric tons released annually in Europe alone. These rubber-based particles contain heavy metals and toxic organic chemicals that contaminate air, water, and soil, and human exposure occurs through inhaling dust, eating contaminated food, and drinking water, raising concerns about respiratory, cardiovascular, and cancer risks.

2025 Sustainability 19 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

Tire Wear and Pollutants: An Overview of Research

This review provides an overview of tire road and wear particles as a major source of microplastic emissions, examining both experimental and mathematical approaches to measuring tire wear. The study notes that while tire wear particles are found in alarming amounts across various environments, they remain less studied than other microplastics, and calls for more accurate simulation models to predict tire wear emissions.

2023 Archives of Advanced Engineering Science 30 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Tire wear particles in aquatic environments: A systematic review of sources, detection, distribution, and toxicological impacts

This systematic review examined tire wear particles — a type of microplastic created as tires wear down on roads — as an emerging water pollutant. These particles wash into rivers and oceans through stormwater runoff and contain toxic chemicals that harm aquatic organisms. Since tire wear is one of the largest sources of microplastic pollution, this is relevant to anyone living near roads or consuming seafood.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Tire Wear Particles and Their Role in Microplastic Pollution

This review synthesized research on tire wear particles (TWPs) as a major but often overlooked source of microplastic pollution, contributing roughly six million tonnes annually. TWPs spread into soil, rivers, and oceans, where they carry toxic chemicals including heavy metals and PAHs, posing risks to wildlife and potentially entering the human food chain.

2025 Preprints.org
Article Tier 2

Tire wear particles: An emerging threat to soil health

This review synthesizes knowledge about tire wear particles — a major but often overlooked source of microplastic-like pollutants — in soil ecosystems. Tire wear particles contain toxic metals and organic compounds that harm soil microbes, invertebrates, and plants, but most research to date has focused on aquatic systems rather than soils.

2022 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Priorities to inform research on tire particles and their chemical leachates: A collective perspective.

An international interdisciplinary network of researchers identified priority research areas for understanding the ecological impacts of tire particles and their chemical leachates — a rapidly growing area of concern given that tire wear particles are one of the largest sources of microplastics in urban runoff. The priorities span toxicology, exposure assessment, and regulatory relevance.

2024 Environmental research
Review Tier 2

Microplastics from tyre and road wear A literature review

This literature review examines microplastics generated from tire and road wear, identifying road traffic as a significant but often overlooked source of plastic pollution in urban runoff and waterways. The authors assess what is known about tire particle composition, environmental fate, and potential ecological effects.

2020 KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Tire Abrasion as a Major Source of Microplastics in the Environment

This study analyzed tire wear particles as a major source of microplastics in the environment, estimating that tire abrasion contributes a substantial fraction of total microplastic emissions globally and highlighting road runoff as a key delivery pathway to waterways.

2018 Aerosol and Air Quality Research 582 citations
Article Tier 2

Tyre and road wear particles (TRWP) - A review of generation, properties, emissions, human health risk, ecotoxicity, and fate in the environment

This comprehensive review compiles current knowledge on tyre and road wear particles, which are generated during driving and contribute to both airborne emissions and microplastic pollution. Researchers found that per-capita tyre wear emissions range from 0.2 to 5.5 kilograms per person per year, with particles ending up in soils, waterways, and the air. While the risk from inhaling these particles appears low, the potential health effects from ingesting them through the food chain remain largely unknown.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 723 citations
Article Tier 2

[Black microplastics in the environment: Origin, transport and risk of tire wear particles].

This review examines the origin, environmental transport, and health risks of tire wear particles (TWP) — black microplastics shed from vehicle tires — which disperse widely into air, soil, rivers, and food chains as vehicle ownership increases.

2022 PubMed 4 citations
Article Tier 2

A Review of Microplastics Risk Assessment in the Coastal Environment

This review examines the risk of microplastic pollution in coastal and marine environments, covering how microplastics transfer from land to sea, enter food chains, and pose combined toxic risks to marine life and human health. Chemical degradation processes like tire abrasion are identified as major sources of microplastics in coastal ecosystems.

2021 Bioscience Biotechnology Research Communications 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Dynamic probabilistic material flow analysis of rubber release from tires into the environment

A dynamic material flow analysis model estimated the annual and cumulative release of rubber from vehicle tires into the environment via road wear, finding that tire rubber represents a substantial fraction of total microplastic pollution in terrestrial and aquatic systems. The study helps quantify this important but often overlooked microplastic source.

2019 Environmental Pollution 184 citations
Article Tier 2

Tire wear particles in the aquatic environment - A review on generation, analysis, occurrence, fate and effects

Researchers reviewed available science on tire wear particles (TWP) — tiny fragments shed from tires during driving — finding that Europe alone generates over 1.3 million tonnes per year, but critical data on environmental concentrations, transport to waterways, and aquatic toxicity remain too limited for robust ecological risk assessment.

2018 Water Research 944 citations
Article Tier 2

Measures to reduce the spread of microplastic particles from tyre wear : On vehicles, on the road and in the roadside environment

Researchers reviewed measures to reduce the spread of microplastic particles from tyre wear at the vehicle, road, and roadside environment levels, examining the transport pathways via air, water, and snow and the risks these persistent, potentially toxic particles pose to ecosystems and human health.

2025 KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Article Tier 2

What is known and unknown concerning microplastics from tyre wear?

This review synthesizes current knowledge on tyre wear particles (TWPs) as a major source of road-traffic microplastics, covering how particle generation, transport pathways, and environmental fate depend on tyre composition, road characteristics, and weather. A key finding is that while TWPs can be identified in environmental samples, quantifying them precisely remains difficult and expensive—a gap that must be closed to accurately assess human and ecological exposure.

2023 Road Materials and Pavement Design 8 citations
Article Tier 2

An overview of the key topics related to the study of tire particles and their chemical leachates: From problems to solutions

Researchers reviewed the current state of knowledge on tyre wear particles — rubber fragments shed by vehicles that are a major source of microplastic pollution — identifying key gaps in emissions estimates, detection standards, and understanding of the toxic chemicals that leach from tyre rubber into the environment. The review calls for closer collaboration between scientists, regulators, and the tire industry to develop solutions that reduce the environmental and health impacts of tyre pollution.

2024 TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Where the rubber meets the road: Emerging environmental impacts of tire wear particles and their chemical cocktails

About 3 billion new tires are produced every year, and the particles they shed during use are one of the largest sources of microplastic pollution, especially in urban areas. Tire wear particles contain a cocktail of heavy metals, plastics, and toxic organic compounds that wash into waterways during rain. Even recycled tire products like crumb rubber fields and rubber-modified pavement continue to release pollutants, making tire pollution a complex lifecycle problem.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 166 citations
Article Tier 2

An estimation of tire and road wear particles emissions in surface water based on a conceptual framework

Researchers developed a conceptual framework to estimate emissions of tire and road wear particles (TRWPs) into surface water, identifying them as a dominant source of microplastic contamination in freshwater environments globally.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 23 citations
Article Tier 2

Wear and Tear of Tyres: A Stealthy Source of Microplastics in the Environment

This paper compiles existing knowledge on tire wear as a major but often overlooked source of microplastics, estimating global per-person emissions at about 0.8 kilograms per year. Tire particles enter waterways, air, and soil, with an estimated 5-10% of ocean plastic pollution originating from tire wear. The study calls for increased awareness and creative solutions to address this stealthy yet substantial contributor to microplastic contamination.

2017 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 1428 citations
Article Tier 2

Comprehensive approach to national tire wear emissions: Challenges and implications

Researchers developed a comprehensive approach to estimate national tire wear emissions, which are a major source of microplastics in the environment. They found that increasing vehicle weight due to electrification trends and growing traffic volumes are driving higher emissions, while no regulations currently exist for tire wear. The study provides methods needed for tracking changes in tire-related microplastic pollution and supporting future environmental impact assessments.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 22 citations