In July 2018, the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA) took a proactive approach and launched the European Tyre and Road Wear Particles (TRWP) Platform, facilitated by CSR Europe, to explore a balanced and holistic method in addressing and understanding TRWP. This multi-stakeholder platform brought together experts from
governments, academia, non-governmental organisations and industries. Through an open and inclusive dialogue, the Platform aimed to share scientific knowledge, achieve a common understanding of the possible effects of particles generated during normal tyre use and wear, and co-design mitigation options to reduce TRWP.
This report presents a summary of the present scientific knowledge regarding TRWP and the recognised knowledge gaps. It is based on the available literature, with an emphasis on recent studies, publications, reports and presentations of participants at the high-level and technical meetings of the European TRWP Platform. The report is mainly directed at the nature of TRWP and their transport and fate from generation on the road to the freshwater systems.
In recent years, some very interesting and high-quality scientific reviews have been published and recent experimental studies and modelling efforts on TRWP have become available. These promise useful developments in the understanding of the issue. This report is not a typical and complete scientific review, but an evaluation and interpretation of results of others in view of an integrated consideration of the fate of TRWP from “road to ocean”. Thus, only major references were used, and their results are reported in short paragraphs and open questions and challenges are derived. Since TRWP have been generated for many decades, it is somewhat surprising that sound scientific knowledge of this topic is comparatively limited, compared to the emissions of heavy metals or organic trace contaminants from various sources (for example, pharmaceutical residues).
It is to be expected that considerable progress will be achieved in the next years on the understanding of the fate of TRWP in aquatic systems; several research projects have started and will help to support or reject a number of hypotheses or assumptions. They will contribute to the evaluation of the effects of TRWP in the environment and will be the basis for decisions on optional countermeasures.