According to https://www.tyre-trends.com/news/tip-supported-study-intros-advanced-model-to-track-trwp-movement-through-soil-and-waterways, the Tire Industry Project supported a peer reviewed study that introduces the Mass Balance Model, a new scientific tool for tracing tire and road wear particles, or TRWP, through soils and freshwater systems.
TRWP form unintentionally at the tire to road frictional interface during normal vehicle use. The particles are roughly half tire tread and half road material, are denser than water, and typically measure about 100 micrometers. Those physical traits affect how the particles move, settle, and accumulate in the environment.
The Mass Balance Model predicts particle concentrations across entire watersheds with high spatial resolution. It simulates transport from road surfaces to receiving waters such as rivers, lakes, and estuaries, while accounting for climate and landscape differences that influence runoff and sedimentation.
The new model builds on earlier baseline work in the Seine watershed, and it includes formal uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. Those steps identify which transport parameters most affect outcomes, helping researchers and managers focus measurement and mitigation efforts where they will matter most.
Applied to three different watersheds, the model estimates that between 2% and 18% of TRWP generated on roadways reach surface waters. The range depends on factors like urbanization, local climate, basin size, and the design and condition of drainage systems. The study also finds that improvements to stormwater infrastructure could cut transport to surface waters by up to 50%.
Because it is designed for broad applicability, the model helps fill gaps in understanding TRWP fate in understudied waterways around the world. That matters as regulators and environmental agencies increase their attention to microplastics and vehicle-related particulate pathways.
TIP Director of Research Nicolas Tissier emphasized the study’s role in supporting reproducible science for researchers, policymakers, and industry, so decisions can be evidence based. Ongoing development aims to make the tool easier to use outside academia, increasing accessibility for practitioners and regulators.
This peer reviewed study underlines TIP’s long running commitment, since 2005, to independent research on tire lifecycle impacts. It advances fate and transport modeling and informs mitigation strategies that can reduce TRWP loads to soils and waters.
