Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The transport of tyre wear particles in rivers, with a focus on settling and resuspension

Researchers investigated the transport dynamics of tyre and road wear particles (TRWPs) in river systems, with particular focus on settling and resuspension processes in aquatic environments, and explored pathways toward groundwater, addressing a gap in understanding TRWP fate in the environment.

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

Settling Velocities of Tire and Road Wear Particles: Analyzing Finely Graded Density Fractions of Samples from a Road Simulator and a Highway Tunnel.

Researchers measured the terminal settling velocities of tyre and road wear particles (TRWP) from a road simulator and highway tunnel across different density and size fractions, providing the first empirical settling velocity data for these particles to support modeling of their transport in aquatic environments.

2025 Environmental science & technology
Article Tier 2

Relevance of tyre wear particles to the total content of microplastics transported by runoff in a high-imperviousness and intense vehicle traffic urban area.

Researchers characterized microplastics and tire wear particles (TWPs) transported by urban stormwater runoff in a highly impervious catchment, finding that TWPs made up a substantial fraction of the total microplastic load in sediments of a stormwater detention reservoir. The study underscores the contribution of road traffic to microplastic pollution entering waterways.

2022 Environmental Pollution 47 citations
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
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
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

Characterization of tire and road wear particles in urban river samples

Tire and road wear particles in urban river sediments from the Seine River were characterized using density separation and chemical mapping methods, finding average particle sizes of 133-250 microns with TRWP concentrations of up to 930 mg/kg dry sediment downstream of the Rouen urban area.

2023 Environmental Advances 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Particle-Associated Contaminant Transport in Rivers during High Discharge Events

Researchers examined suspended river sediments during high discharge events for the presence of anthropogenic particles including microplastics and tyre wear particles, as well as their co-transport with organic pollutants including PFAS and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, in an urbanizing catchment context.

2024
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

Tyre wear particles: an abundant yet widely unreported microplastic?

Researchers collected tire wear particles from roadside drains and natural environments near a major UK road, finding that these particles are abundant and widespread yet frequently undetected in environmental monitoring, suggesting tyre wear is a major but under-reported microplastic source.

2020 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 317 citations
Article Tier 2

Urban wash-off of tire wear particles

Researchers used a rainfall simulator to study how tire wear particles, an important class of microplastics, are washed off road surfaces during storm events. They found that low surface roughness, high rainfall intensity, and low slope produced the fastest and most complete mobilization of tire wear particles. The study reveals that larger tire particles moved faster than smaller ones, and flow depth was the most important factor governing wash-off behavior.

2026 Journal of Hydrology
Article Tier 2

Seasonal variation in characteristics of wear microparticles of high density (> 1.8 g cm−3) produced on road

By analyzing road dust across seasons, this study characterized the types and quantities of high-density wear particles (denser than 1.8 g/cm³) produced by traffic, including tire rubber, road paint, glass beads, and plastic particles, with winter generating the most. Dense particles settle out of water quickly, meaning they concentrate in nearby river sediments and could serve as useful tracers for tracking road-sourced pollution.

2024 Heliyon 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of fine and coarse tyre wear particles along a highway stormwater system and in receiving waters: Occurrence and transport

Researchers tracked tire wear particles through a highway stormwater drainage system in Sweden and found contamination at nearly every sampling point, with concentrations reaching up to 17 milligrams per liter in water. A significant portion of the particles were very small, in the 1.6 to 20 micrometer range, which are harder to filter out and more likely to travel long distances. The study highlights that tire wear is a major and often overlooked source of microplastic pollution reaching waterways.

2024 Journal of Environmental Management 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Pollution from Transport: Detection of Tyre Particles in Environmental Samples

This study reviews tyre wear particles as a major but underestimated source of microplastic pollution from road transport, describing methods for detecting these particles in environmental samples including road dust, waterways, and soils. The authors call for greater regulatory attention to tyre-derived emissions alongside other transport-related pollutants.

2022 Energies 41 citations
Article Tier 2

Tyre and road wear particles from source to sea

Researchers traced tyre and road wear particles (TRWP) — tiny rubber fragments shed when vehicles brake and turn — from urban roads into marine sediments, finding that softer tyres with more natural rubber shed more particles and that TRWP concentrations drop sharply with distance from cities. Unlike lighter microplastics that drift widely, TRWP sink quickly and accumulate near urban coastlines, threatening nearshore sediment ecosystems.

2023 Microplastics and Nanoplastics 54 citations
Article Tier 2

Hydrodynamic modelling of traffic-related microplastics discharged with stormwater into the Göta River in Sweden

Researchers used hydrodynamic modelling (MIKE 3 FM) to simulate the fate of traffic-related tire wear microplastics discharged with stormwater into the Göta River in Sweden, finding higher MP concentrations on the south bank due to greater traffic loads. Larger, denser particles settled within the river, while smaller particles with densities near 1.0 g per cubic centimeter traveled through to the Kattegat strait and marine environment.

2020 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Concentrations of tire wear microplastics and other traffic-derived non-exhaust particles in the road environment

Researchers measured actual environmental concentrations of tire wear microplastics and other traffic-derived non-exhaust particles in a rural highway setting, providing field-based data to complement the theoretical estimates that dominate current literature.

2022 Environment International 153 citations
Article Tier 2

Tire and road wear particles contamination in infiltration ponds sediments: occurrence, spatial variability, size distribution and correlation with metals

Researchers examined tire and road wear particle (TRWP) contamination in infiltration pond sediments, characterizing their occurrence, spatial variability, size distribution, and correlation with heavy metals to assess the pollution dynamics of these road-derived particles in urban drainage systems.

2024 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository
Article Tier 2

Settling velocities of microplastics and tire and road wear particles

Researchers developed a high-precision optical imaging method to measure how fast small microplastics (10–400 micrometers) and tire-and-road wear particles sink through water, filling a critical data gap needed to predict where these pollutants accumulate in aquatic environments.

2025
Article Tier 2

Permeable pavements: A possible sink for tyre wear particles and other microplastics?

Researchers sampled approximately 100 kg of particulate material from seven roads and parking lots to analyze microplastic content including tire wear particles. The study found that tire wear constituted the dominant fraction of microplastics at 0.09% of dry mass, with polypropylene as the most common non-tire plastic type, and that permeable pavements may act as sinks trapping these particles before they reach waterways.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 70 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

Characteristics of Vehicle Tire and Road Wear Particles’ Size Distribution and Influencing Factors Examined via Laboratory Test

Researchers conducted laboratory tests to characterize the size distribution of tire and road wear particles under various conditions. The study found that factors such as driving speed, tire composition, and road surface characteristics significantly influence the size and quantity of wear particles released, which are a growing source of microplastic pollution.

2024 Atmosphere 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Tire wear particles concentrations in gully pot sediments

Researchers measured tire wear particle (TWP) concentrations in gully pot sediments, developing analytical methods to quantify this major microplastic source in road runoff as it enters urban drainage systems before reaching the broader environment.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 47 citations
Review Tier 2

A review of potential physical and chemical markers for tyre and road wear particles

This review examines potential physical and chemical markers for identifying tyre and road wear particles (TRWPs) in environmental samples, assessing how these markers can distinguish TRWPs from other microplastic sources in freshwater ecosystems. The authors found that chemical additives associated with tyre rubber, including benzothiazole derivatives and specific heavy metals, show promise as tracers, though standardization of detection methods remains a challenge.

2024 Detritus 1 citations