Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics in gully pot sediment in urban areas: Presence, quantities and characteristics

Researchers analyzed sediment from 29 urban gully pots — the roadside drains that funnel stormwater into sewer pipes — and found concentrations of up to 10,600 microplastic particles per 100g of sediment, with tire wear particles making up roughly a third. The study shows gully pots act as temporary traps for microplastics before they flush into waterways, and that maintaining and cleaning them could reduce the flow of microplastics into rivers and the ocean. This is a practical, infrastructure-based intervention point for cutting urban microplastic pollution.

2024 Environmental Pollution 3 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

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

Is road pavement wear a source of microplastics in stormwater runoff?

This study investigated whether road pavement wear is a measurable source of microplastics in stormwater runoff, distinct from the better-characterized tire wear contribution. Pavement-derived particles were identified in stormwater samples, confirming that road surface material itself contributes to microplastic loading in urban runoff alongside tire wear and other sources.

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

Tire Wear Monitoring Approach for Hotspot Identification in Road Deposited Sediments from a Metropolitan City in Germany

Researchers developed a systematic road-sampling approach to identify urban hotspots for tire-and-road wear particles (TRWP) — a major category of microplastic pollution — by sweeping road-deposited sediments at six inner-city monitoring sites. Curves and traffic-light zones accumulated 8x and 3x more styrene-butadiene rubber (a TRWP marker) than straight road sections, respectively. Since tire wear is one of the largest sources of microplastics entering waterways via road runoff, this hotspot mapping method can inform targeted mitigation measures.

2023 Sustainability 8 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

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

Characterization of tire and road wear microplastic particle contamination in a road tunnel: From surface to release

Researchers characterized tire and road wear particle distributions across multiple compartments of a road tunnel including road surfaces, gully pots, and wash water, finding the highest concentrations in side bank surface deposits and gully pots at the tunnel inlet. Sedimentation treatment retained only 63% of tire and road wear particles from wash water, highlighting the need for improved treatment to prevent environmental release.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Realistic evaluation of tire wear particle emissions and their driving factors on different road types

This study measured tire wear particle (TWP) emissions under realistic driving conditions on different road types and identified the key driving factors affecting emission rates. Tire wear particles are a major category of microplastic pollution in road runoff, and this data is needed to estimate their contribution to environmental contamination.

2023
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and tyre wear particles in urban runoff from different urban surfaces

Researchers measured microplastics and tire wear particles in stormwater runoff from roads, parking lots, and rooftops in Sweden. They found that road runoff carried the highest concentrations by far, with large variations between rainfall events. The findings highlight urban roads as a major source of microplastic pollution entering nearby waterways through stormwater.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 13 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

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

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

Microplastics and Tire Wear Particles in Urban Stormwater: Abundance, Characteristics, and Potential Mitigation Strategies

Researchers measured microplastic concentrations in urban stormwater and found levels ranging from about 4 to 59 particles per liter, with tire wear particles making up roughly 95% of all particles detected. Microlitter capture devices reduced microplastic loads by 35 to 88%, and constructed wetlands provided additional removal. The study suggests that targeted stormwater treatment infrastructure could meaningfully reduce the flow of microplastics into rivers and coastal waters.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 72 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioswales as potential sinks for tyre wear particle pollution

Researchers investigated the role of bioswale green infrastructure in capturing tyre wear particle microplastics from road runoff, presenting data from bioswales constructed in 2010 and quantifying their effectiveness as sinks for tyre-derived microplastic pollution.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and tyre wear particles infiltration in the soil of a roadside biofiltration swale

Researchers investigated the infiltration of microplastics and tyre wear particles into soil along a roadside biofiltration swale, assessing the extent to which these particles migrate from the road surface into subsurface soils under real-world conditions.

2024 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository
Article Tier 2

Removal of tire wear from road runoff

This doctoral thesis developed sampling systems to measure tire-wear particle emissions at urban hotspots and tested decentralized filter solutions to capture these particles before they enter surface waters via road runoff. Tire wear is one of the largest single sources of microplastic pollution, and practical, scalable roadside filtration could meaningfully reduce the amount reaching aquatic ecosystems.

2026 DepositOnce
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in a stormwater floating treatment wetland: Detection of tyre particles in sediment

A study of a stormwater floating treatment wetland found microplastics including tire-derived rubber particles accumulating in the wetland sediments, confirming that such systems can act as a sink for stormwater-borne plastic pollution. Tire particles were identified as a major contributor, highlighting roads as a key source of microplastic contamination in urban runoff.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 273 citations
Article Tier 2

Tyre wear particles and metals in highway roadside ditches: Occurrence and potential transport pathways.

Researchers characterized the occurrence and distribution of tyre wear particles (TWP) and associated metals in roadside soils and drainage ditches along a highway, investigating transport pathways and estimating the potential for TWP and metal contamination to reach surface water.

2025 Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)
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

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

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

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