Chronic toxicity of tire and road wear particles to water- and sediment-dwelling organisms

Abstract

Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) consist of a complex mixture of rubber, and pavement released from tires during use on road surfaces. Subsequent transport of the TRWP into freshwater sediments has raised some concern about the potential adverse effects on aquatic organisms. Previous studies have shown some potential for toxicity for tread particles, however, toxicity studies of TRWP collected from a road simulator system revealed no acute toxicity to green algae, daphnids, or fathead minnows at concentrations up to 10,000 mg/kg under conditions representative of receiving water bodies. In this study, the chronic toxicity of TRWP was evaluated in four aquatic species. Test animals were exposed to whole sediment spiked with TRWP at concentrations up to 10,000 mg/kg sediment or elutriates from spiked sediment. Exposure to TRWP spiked sediment caused mild growth inhibition in Chironomus dilutus but had no adverse effect on growth or reproduction in Hyalella azteca. Exposure to TRWP elutriates resulted in slightly diminished survival in larval Pimephales promelas but had no adverse effect on growth or reproduction in Ceriodaphnia dubia. No other endpoints in these species were affected. These results, together with previous studies demonstrating no acute toxicity of TRWP, indicate that under typical exposure conditions TRWP in sediments pose a low risk of toxicity to aquatic organisms.

Ingestion and Chronic Effects of Car Tire Tread Particles on Freshwater Benthic Macroinvertebrates

“…This is in agreement with previous studies evaluating the effects of TRWP mixed with sediments on aquatic organisms. 21 , 24 However, potential long-term effects caused by the slow release and gradual environmental increase of bioavailable zinc and other substances caused by aging of rubber particles are not expressed by these experiments. For G. pulex , the ingestion of car tire TP was demonstrated after a 28 day exposure to 10% car tire TP in sediment.…”

“…Our results are in accordance with the findings of Panko et al, 2013, who found no significant adverse effects for benthic invertebrates H. azteca and C. dilutus after a chronic exposure to 10 g TRWP per kg of sediment dry weight. 24 In contrast, Camponelli et al 2009 showed that car tire TP with size <590 μm at 83.8 g/kg of sediment dry weight slowed down the metamorphosis of R. sylvatica larvae and zinc accumulated in their tissues. 25 Zinc content in the car tire TP mixture was roughly 0.6% in our study, in comparison to the 1.26% reported by Camponelli et al, 2009.…”

“… 9 Although studying the effects of elutriates extracted from car tire particles may be useful for screening level assessments, evaluating the effects of car tire particles in water or sediment under natural conditions is more environmentally realistic. 24 For instance, earlier studies showed negative effects of car tire TP on the development of Rana sylvatica larvae at a concentration of 83.8 g/kg of sediment dry weight. 25 In contrast, no effects of 10 g of TRWP per kg of sediment dry weight were found for the amphipod Hyalella azteca and the larvae midge Chironomus dilutus .…”

“… 25 In contrast, no effects of 10 g of TRWP per kg of sediment dry weight were found for the amphipod Hyalella azteca and the larvae midge Chironomus dilutus . 24 …”

Use of a Deuterated Internal Standard with Pyrolysis-GC/MS Dimeric Marker Analysis to Quantify Tire Tread Particles in the Environment

“…Over the service life of a tire, approximately 12% of the mass is released to the environment as tire and road wear particles (TRWP) produced through abrasion of the tires by roadway surfaces [6]. The potential for adverse effects to aquatic species resulting from exposure to TRWP in environmental media has been studied by various investigators [7,8,9,10,11]. With regard to human health, non-exhaust emissions, including tire and brake wear, are recognized as potential contributors to particulate matter (PM) exposure [12,13,14].…”