Study: Microgum beats microplastic
The amount of microplastic released into the environment is much smaller than the corresponding amount of microgum. This has been calculated by researchers at Empa. The microgum is mainly produced by tire abrasion.
Between 1998 and 2018, around 200,000 tons of micro-rubber accumulated in the environment in Switzerland, informs the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) in a Communication. Their researchers have studied the formation and impact of microgum.
Tire abrasion examined
According to the results, around 97 percent of the microgum entering the environment is caused by tire abrasion. Almost three quarters of this settles in the first five meters to the left and right of the road. Around 20 percent ends up in bodies of water. Some of the microgum can be filtered out by road wastewater treatment plants (SABA).
The researchers estimate the impact on humans to be low. "The share of tire abrasion in inhaled particulate matter is in the low single-digit percentage range, even at locations close to traffic," Christoph Hüglin of Empa's Air Pollutants and Environmental Engineering department explains in the release.
However, microplastics and microgums are "different particles that can hardly be compared with each other," Bernd Nowack of Empa's Technology and Society Department clarifies in the release.
Moreover, according to his calculations, only 7 percent of the polymer-based microparticles released into the environment are microplastics. The remaining 93 percent is provided by microgum. "The amount of microgum in the environment is huge and therefore highly relevant," Nowack says.
