title: Chronic toxicity of tire and road wear particles to water- and sediment-dwelling organisms.
abstract: Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) consist of a complex mixture of rubber, and pavement released from tires during use on road surfaces. Subsequent transport of the TRWP into freshwater sediments has raised some concern about the potential adverse effects on aquatic organisms. Previous studies have shown some potential for toxicity for tread particles, however, toxicity studies of TRWP collected from a road simulator system revealed no acute toxicity to green algae, daphnids, or fathead minnows at concentrations up to 10,000 mg/kg under conditions representative of receiving water bodies. In this study, the chronic toxicity of TRWP was evaluated in four aquatic species. Test animals were exposed to whole sediment spiked with TRWP at concentrations up to 10,000 mg/kg sediment or elutriates from spiked sediment. Exposure to TRWP spiked sediment caused mild growth inhibition in Chironomus dilutus but had no adverse effect on growth or reproduction in Hyalella azteca. Exposure to TRWP elutriates resulted in slightly diminished survival in larval Pimephales promelas but had no adverse effect on growth or reproduction in Ceriodaphnia dubia. No other endpoints in these species were affected. These results, together with previous studies demonstrating no acute toxicity of TRWP, indicate that under typical exposure conditions TRWP in sediments pose a low risk of toxicity to aquatic organisms.
authors.affiliation: ChemRisk, 20 Stanwix Street, Suite 505, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, USA. jpanko@chemrisk.com
authors.forename: Julie M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Panko
authors.forename: Marisa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kreider
authors.forename: Britt L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: McAtee
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marwood
mesh_terms: D033304:Amphipoda / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D002683:Chironomidae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D033361:Cladocera / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D003530:Cyprinidae / Q000254:growth & development; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000633:toxicity*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects; D012408:Rubber / Q000633:toxicity*; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D012408:Rubber