New information produced by emission testing specialists, Emissions Analytics, suggests that particle emissions from vehicle tyre wear is a serious issue that is getting worse and not being addressed. 

Emissions Analytics has been testing for the rate of tyre wear emissions in real-world conditions over a number of years, across thousands of miles on many different types of tyre.  The current average wear rate for a whole vehicle is 67 mg/km from new tyres, and this is predicted to halve over the tyres’ lifetime.  Therefore, particulate mass generated from tyre wear is nearly 2,000 times greater than that from the tailpipe of modern ICE vehicles. In addition, testing suggests for every 500 kg extra vehicle weight, equal to a large battery, tyre wear emissions rise by 21%.  

The company says that all tyre emissions are high compared to the tailpipe particle mass from the latest ICE vehicles and that tyre and tailpipe emissions approach parity when the comparator is an older diesel vehicle with no particulate filter installed, or on a vehicle with a compromised filter.

This analysis makes it clear that tyre wear emissions are being generated when any of the world’s 1.5 billion cars are driven.  Latest estimates suggest they shed about 6 million tonnes of tyre material per year, or 4 kg per car per year. This provides a danger to humans, plants and animals, both in terms of microscopic air-borne particles and larger particles contaminating soil and waterways. 

Emission Analytics has studied the complex compounds that make up modern tyres which is a first step to indentifying the dangers and the creation of controls which force tyre makers to move to less hazardous materials. However, it warns that at present “These chemicals are all around us, and inside us, hidden in plain sight.