5 ms·

Rubber particles from tires are one of the main sources of microplastics.

llampx 1y ago
The tires that are "disposed of" in the third world and then burnt?
sfn42 1y ago
I think the point of the person you replied to is that this stuff is comparably unimportant. Micro plastics are as far as I know not even known to be particularly harmful. It's more of a "this is probably bad" type of thing. And I'm not really sure what we're supposed to do about it, we already have huge plastic islands floating around. On the other hand, carbon emissions are known to cause global warming which will literally be the end of the world if we don't fix it fast. From what I've read it may already be too late, we may already be on course for runaway climate change that we may not be able to fix. To me that's a much more pressing matter.
- ndsipa_pomu 1y ago
  However the 6PPD used in tyres appears to be very toxic to some marine life and the tyre pollution gets washed off from the roads into rivers etc. It's the toxicity that's the issue. Poisoning the oceans does not seem like a good strategy for the human race. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6PPD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6PPD
  - pjc50 1y ago
    Probably quite hard to detect the effects of that particular chemical underneath all the over-fishing, which is why the concern only appears when people are talking about EVs rather than back in the 1970s when it was introduced.
    - ndsipa_pomu 1y ago
      The actual issue is not with 6PPD itself, but when it oxidises to quinones. That transformation was only recognised in 2020, which is why people are only starting to measure and quantify its effects. It's definitely an issue with ICE and EVs, but is often brought up in EV discussions as people get the impression that EVs are "pollution free" due to their lack of exhaust emissions. Also, EVs tend to produce more tyre dust due to their slightly heavier weight and increased torque. Incidentally, a small Chinese study found 6PPD and 6PPDQ in human urine in low concentrations. We don't currently know what health effects, if any that may have.

The tires that are "disposed of" in the third world and then burnt?

I think the point of the person you replied to is that this stuff is comparably unimportant. Micro plastics are as far as I know not even known to be particularly harmful. It's more of a "this is probably bad" type of thing. And I'm not really sure what we're supposed to do about it, we already have huge plastic islands floating around. On the other hand, carbon emissions are known to cause global warming which will literally be the end of the world if we don't fix it fast. From what I've read it may already be too late, we may already be on course for runaway climate change that we may not be able to fix. To me that's a much more pressing matter.

ndsipa_pomu 1y ago
However the 6PPD used in tyres appears to be very toxic to some marine life and the tyre pollution gets washed off from the roads into rivers etc. It's the toxicity that's the issue. Poisoning the oceans does not seem like a good strategy for the human race. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6PPD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6PPD
- pjc50 1y ago
  Probably quite hard to detect the effects of that particular chemical underneath all the over-fishing, which is why the concern only appears when people are talking about EVs rather than back in the 1970s when it was introduced.
  - ndsipa_pomu 1y ago
    The actual issue is not with 6PPD itself, but when it oxidises to quinones. That transformation was only recognised in 2020, which is why people are only starting to measure and quantify its effects. It's definitely an issue with ICE and EVs, but is often brought up in EV discussions as people get the impression that EVs are "pollution free" due to their lack of exhaust emissions. Also, EVs tend to produce more tyre dust due to their slightly heavier weight and increased torque. Incidentally, a small Chinese study found 6PPD and 6PPDQ in human urine in low concentrations. We don't currently know what health effects, if any that may have.