Vol. 337 No. 6 (2026)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18799/24131830/2026/6/5192
Environmental assessment of the impact of tire and road wear particles on the waters of the Arctic Ocean seas
Relevance. During the operation of tires, tire and road wear particles are formed. The environmental assessment of their impact on the waters of the Arctic Ocean seas has not been sufficiently studied. Aim. To assess the environmental impact of tire and road wear particles on the waters of the Arctic Ocean marginal seas. Methods. To identify tire and road wear particles, an IRTracer-100 FT-IR spectrometer (Shimadzu, Japan) with an attenuated total internal reflection attachment (Specac Ltd, Orpington, UK) and an Imager.Z1 microscope with an HBO-100 illumination system (Carl Zeiss, Germany) were used. Statistical methods. Results and conclusions. Tire and road wear particles are present in the waters of the Arctic Ocean. Moreover, they are wastes. Their physical characteristics of are somewhat similar to the ones of microplastics: the mass of tire and road wear particles is 0.55 mg [0.10; 1.40], size – 1.20×1.10 mm [0.90×0.70; 2.10×2.10], area – 1.43 mm2 [0.63; 4.37], which characterizes tire and road wear particles as a large microplastics, including particle sizes from 1 to 5 mm. However, the chemical characteristics of tire and road wear particles differ from those of microplastics due to the synthetic nature of origin (79.6%), non-fibrous structure (95.9%), gray (30%) or black (30%) color, dominance of calcium stearate and water-based polyurethane varnish in the chemical composition, which are unfavorable in terms of environmental risk. Thus, tire and road wear particles are independent type of waste that has a detrimental effect on the environment. The results obtained dictate the need for further more detailed study of the nature of tire and road wear particles and assessment of their impact on the ecology of the hydrosphere.
For citation: Mazlova E.A., Lobanov A.V., Blinovskaya Ya.Yu. Environmental assessment of the impact of tire and road wear particles on the waters of the Arctic Ocean seas. Bulletin of the Tomsk Polytechnic University. Geo Assets Engineering, 2026, vol. 337, no. 6, pp. 74-86. https://doi.org/10.18799/24131830/2026/6/5192
Keywords:
microplastics, tire and road wear particles, ecology, anthropogenic pollution, Arctic Ocean
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