Papers

61,005 results
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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
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

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

Microplastic and tyre wear particles at a highway: a case study from Norway

Researchers monitored microplastics and tire wear particles (tiny rubber fragments shed by vehicles) in air, road runoff, and road dust along a busy Norwegian highway, finding the highest concentrations in road dust and the lowest in air. The study demonstrates that traffic is a major source of microplastic pollution across multiple environmental pathways.

2025 Microplastics and Nanoplastics
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

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

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

Detecting the Invisible: Analytical Advances and Regulatory Gaps in Tyre and Road Wear Particle Pollution

This research review reveals that tiny particles from car tires scraping against roads make up nearly 28% of all microplastic pollution worldwide, yet we barely understand or regulate this massive source of contamination. These tire particles contain rubber, metals, and other chemicals that spread through the air we breathe and water systems, but scientists still lack consistent methods to properly detect and measure them. The study highlights an urgent need for better testing methods and pollution policies to protect human health from this largely invisible but widespread form of microplastic exposure.

2026 Microplastics
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

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
Article Tier 2

Contribution of Road Vehicle Tyre Wear to Microplastics and Ambient Air Pollution

This review finds that tire wear from road vehicles contributes one-third to one-half of all microplastics released unintentionally into the environment, with passenger cars generating about 110 milligrams per kilometer driven. Most tire particles end up in soil, but a portion becomes airborne, contributing 5-30% of road transport particulate matter emissions. Since the smallest tire particles can be inhaled, this is a significant and often overlooked source of daily microplastic exposure for people living near roads.

2024 Sustainability 107 citations
Article Tier 2

Tyre and road wear particles - A calculation of generation, transport and release to water and soil with special regard to German roads

This study calculated that German roads generate 75,000 to 98,000 tons of tire and road wear particles annually, with a significant portion reaching surface waters and roadside soils. The findings highlight tire wear as a major but often overlooked source of microplastic pollution requiring better data and management strategies.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 244 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

Wheels of Contamination: Car tire microplastics from source to sea

Researchers traced car tyre microplastics from their generation through environmental transport pathways to eventual deposition in the sea, estimating that more than 55% of tyre-wear particles enter aquatic environments via runoff and atmospheric transport. The study synthesised existing data on tyre microplastic sources, emission rates, and fate to map the full contamination pathway from road surfaces to ocean ecosystems.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
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

Microplastic and tyre wear particles at a highway: a case study from Norway

Researchers characterized microplastics including tyre wear particles across air, road runoff, and road dust near a heavily trafficked Norwegian highway using µFTIR and Py-GC/MS, finding the highest MP concentrations in road dust (up to 4250 counts per square meter) and the highest tyre wear particle concentrations in road dust and road runoff. The results showed that road runoff and road dust better reflected local traffic emissions while airborne MPs were more influenced by atmospheric transport.

2025
Article Tier 2

Identification, classification and quantification of microplastics in road dust and stormwater

Researchers identified and quantified microplastics in road dust and stormwater, finding significantly higher concentrations in industrial areas compared to residential zones, with tire wear particles and polyethylene fragments being the most common types.

2022 Chemosphere 80 citations
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

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

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

Modelled atmospheric concentration of tyre wear in an urban environment

Researchers modeled airborne concentrations of tire wear particles — tiny plastic-containing fragments released when vehicle tires rub against road surfaces — across Stockholm, finding that these microplastic particles are widespread in cities and make up 4–6% of total air particle pollution, with concentrations highest near busy highways and in narrow street canyons.

2023 Atmospheric Environment X 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Methods for laboratory-generation and physico-chemical characterisation of tyre wear particles

Researchers developed a lab method to generate tire wear particles using a friction machine and then identified a suite of chemical compounds that could serve as reliable markers for detecting these particles in environmental samples. Tire wear is one of the largest single sources of microplastic pollution globally, yet quantifying it in the environment has been hampered by the lack of agreed marker compounds. This work lays groundwork for standardized monitoring of tire particle pollution in soils and waterways.

2024 Detritus 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The influence of road vehicle tyre wear on microplastics in a high-traffic university for sustainable transportation

Researchers examined microplastic pollution from tire wear in a high-traffic university environment. The study found that microplastic concentrations correlated with traffic patterns, peaking on weekdays and declining on weekends, with irregularly shaped black particles composed primarily of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polybutadiene dominating the samples, along with metal contaminants concentrated near the main entrance.

2024 Environmental Pollution 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Analytical challenges and possibilities for the quantification of tire-road wear particles

This review examines the analytical challenges involved in measuring tire-road wear particles, one of the largest sources of microplastic emissions. Researchers cataloged the wide range of methods used to detect and quantify these particles, noting that their varied size, shape, density, and chemical makeup make consistent measurement difficult. The study highlights the need for standardized analytical approaches so that results from different studies can be meaningfully compared.

2023 TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 65 citations