Toxic effects of tire abrasion

Experiments with gill cells and intestinal cells of rainbow trout show that the concentrations of tire wear particles found in the environment are not acutely toxic to fish. However, the chronic toxicity should be further investigated, as should the mechanism of action of the toxic oxidation product 6PPD-quinone.

The Ecotox Centre has advanced an innovative method to sensitively determine the toxicity of unknown mixtures and unmask the responsible substances. This is not only interesting for food safety, but also for environmental analysis.