Acute aquatic toxicity of tire and road wear particles to alga, daphnid, and fish

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that tire tread particles are toxic to aquatic species, but few studies have evaluated the toxicity of such particles using sediment, the likely reservoir of tire wear particles in the environment. In this study, the acute toxicity of tire and road wear particles (TRWP) was assessed in Pseudokirchneriella subcapita, Daphnia magna, and Pimephales promelas using a sediment elutriate (100, 500, 1000 or 10000 mg/l TRWP). Under standard test temperature conditions, no concentration response was observed and EC/LC(50) values were greater than 10,000 mg/l. Additional tests using D. magna were performed both with and without sediment in elutriates collected under heated conditions designed to promote the release of chemicals from the rubber matrix to understand what environmental factors may influence the toxicity of TRWP. Toxicity was only observed for elutriates generated from TRWP leached under high-temperature conditions and the lowest EC/LC(50) value was 5,000 mg/l. In an effort to identify potential toxic chemical constituent(s) in the heated leachates, toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) studies and chemical analysis of the leachate were conducted. The TIE coupled with chemical analysis (liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry [LC/MS/MS] and inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry [ICP/MS]) of the leachate identified zinc and aniline as candidate toxicants. However, based on the high EC/LC(50) values and the limited conditions under which toxicity was observed, TRWP should be considered a low risk to aquatic ecosystems under acute exposure scenarios.

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

“…These chemical data already show that TP elutriate tests are not likely to represent ecologically relevant results as they do not account for the limited bioavailability of metals in the sediment mixture. 10 , 21 …”

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].…”

A new approach for the laboratory culture of the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas

“…Second, it has been studied after in situ deployment in streams [2,4,16,[24][25][26] development of molecular biological indicators of exposure to chemicals at ecologically relevant levels [3,[12][13]15,17,27]; in oil and mining production toxicity assays [16,[28][29]; in pharmaceutical and personal care produce assessments [30][31][32][33]; and as endemic species in whole lake studies [5,34]. With the increased need for fathead minnows of various ages in toxicity identification evaluations [11,[35][36][37][38] and other toxicological assays, combined with the increased cost of transportation, the premise of having disease-free organisms available on demand in a research facility is highly desirable. The present study describes the design and implementation of a mass culture system that fulfills such requirements and reduces environmental impact and resource expenditure.…”