A shocking study in England has found that exhaust fumes account for just a third of all emissions from vehicles, with the rest made up from tyre, road and brake wear.
“Tyres also sit uniquely at the intersection of air quality and microplastics,” the Emissions Analytics study document claimed, insisting it could also spark a new public health scare. Yet, the study found that the biggest issues with tyre wear came with both coarse particles falling quickly to the ground and fine particles remaining airborne, blown away from the road, before settling on the ground.
New equipment has helped Emissions Analytics to measure 14 microparticle sizes from 6 nanometres to 10um for both mass and number. However, it strongly disagreed with the AQEG’s test methodology, insisting it relied on 1990s tests that were “no longer scientifically robust, which highlights the need for additional research.”