Phytotoxicity of Tires Evaluated in Simulated Conditions

Abstract

Illegal dumps and landfills with disposed of tires are a fact of today, which should not be neglected as they represent a great ecological burden for the environment, affect the surrounding nature and disturb the landscape. This research was focused on testing the phytotoxicity of aqueous leachates from the fractions of tires in two sets of experiments—to simulate laboratory conditions (tire leaching in distilled water) and natural conditions (tire leaching in water from a recipient) using the Phytotoxkit testing kit (kit for the establishment of inhibition/stimulation effect on the root development) and the watercress test of phytotoxicity (biological method for the assessment of leachate phytotoxicity). Plants whose seeds were selected for the test were watercress (Lepidium sativum L.) and white mustard (Sinapis alba L.). The aqueous leachate was tested for 38 weeks. During the experiment, physical and chemical parameters were measured at intervals of 14 days by the testing instrument HACH TEST KIT: electric conductivity (EC), amount of dissolved oxygen (LDO) and pH. Results of root growth inhibition (IR) on the seeds of Lepidium sativum L. and Sinapis alba L. exhibited values ranging from 11.73% to 47.74% in the tested samples. Results of germination index (GI) on the seeds of Lepidium sativum L. exhibited values below 66% in the tested samples, which indicated the leachate phytotoxicity. In spite of the fact that similar studies are tackling the acute toxicity of leachates from tires (particularly to algae, embryos and animals), this research brings complementary information in testing the acute phytotoxicity of tire leachates to higher plants.

Establishing Impact of the Long-Term Action of Waste Dumps with the Occurrence of Waste Tires on the Soil Environment

“…The presence of pollutant is indicated by dwarfed growth, retarded germination or slow growth. In this experiment, the authors decided to use the seeds of S.alba and L.sat based on their previous experience from other research studies that confirmed the seeds sensitivity [17,[26][27][28][29].…”

Evaluation of Communal Waste in Slovakia from the View of Chosen Economic Indicators

“…In the area of waste tire dumps also threaten human health and living environments [34]. Worldwide, waste from tires amounts to 1.3-1.5 billion tons/year and by the end of 2025 is expected to amount to more than 2.5 billion tones.…”

Public recreation and landscape protection - with environment hand in hand…

“…15%). Furthermore, the tire is composed of steel, textiles and chemical additives (accelerators, vulcanizing agents, antidegradants and activators), thanks to which it has its unique properties (Šourková et al, 2021a;Senin et al, 2016;Wik and Dave, 2005). The composition of the tire itself seems to be problematic and arguable for application to plants or growing vegetables.…”

“…The composition of the tire itself seems to be problematic and arguable for application to plants or growing vegetables. Another reason is the degradability of the tire, which over the years releases toxic microparticles containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals, thus contaminating soil and plants (Leifheit et al, 2021;Šourková et al, 2021a;Šourková et al, 2021b;William and Shenker, 2016;Wik and Dave, 2005). The aim of this study is to evaluate the development of the toxicity of microparticles released from WT in soil, after a 6-month period.…”