Cap'n Transit

Edit to note that this is apparently 78% of microplastics *from specific sources, including textiles and personal care products*, which is only 11% of total microplastics.

So about 8% of total microplastics is directly from car tires.

RT @jme_pew Turns out “microplastics” isn’t descriptive enough. We should be panicking about *tire dust.*

“Seventy-eight percent of ocean microplastics are synthetic tire rubber, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trust.”

https://e360.yale.edu/features/tire-pollution-toxic-chemicals

Road Hazard: Evidence Mounts on Toxic Pollution from Tires

Researchers are only beginning to uncover the toxic cocktail of chemicals, microplastics, and heavy metals hidden in car and truck tires. But experts say these tire emissions are a significant source of air and water pollution and may be affecting humans as well as wildlife.

Yale e360
Sep 28, 2023 at 2:18amWeb
Show threadPxtlSep 28, 2023

@capntransit all this time I'd been feeling guilty for wearing jeans with a little Lycra in the weave, thinking the ocean microplastics were coming from washing synthetic fabrics.

Now I can feel self-conscious about my butt guilt-free.

Show threadPamelaWaldmanSep 28, 2023
@Pxtl @capntransit Thanks for spreading this absolution
Show threadten white women in the suburbsSep 29, 2023

@Pxtl @capntransit but wait, there's more!

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/jul/02/fashion-chemicals-pfas-bpa-toxic

Are your clothes making you sick? The opaque world of chemicals in fashion

Our outfits contain BPA, PFAS and other dangerous substances – but we still know little about their cumulative impact

The Guardian
Show thread😀🚲Sep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew somehow it's not feasible to tax tires, because reasons (i.e. car addiction)
Show threadJQSep 28, 2023
@enobacon
There is a lot that is appealing to taxing tires. I'll wager a guess that one argument against is the inability to capture interstate travel. I haven't been able to quickly find a source for % VMT that is from interstate vehicle, but my guess is it's de minimus.
@capntransit @jme_pew
Show thread😀🚲Sep 28, 2023
@jqiriazi @capntransit @jme_pew we just need rotating code transponders at every state border, and you can report when you went through with your signed odometer code... or make it federal and call it done.
Show threadJQSep 28, 2023

@enobacon
Issuing transponders would be a nightmare. I think ignore interstate travel and advocate for federal system.

It would also create black market for tires. But I also assume the % of tires that are smuggled across is also minimal.
@capntransit @jme_pew

Show threadErin ConroySep 28, 2023

@capntransit @jme_pew

Yet another reason not to drive private vehicles.

Show threadJames J MalcolmSep 28, 2023
@capntransit don’t worry, EV’s will save us!
Show threadex or current IDF unwelcomeSep 28, 2023
@jamesjm @capntransit they use tyres more quickly due to weight but emit far less brake dust as brakes only used in emergencies or for the final bit to stationary
Show threadCap'n TransitSep 28, 2023
@JohnLoader6 @jamesjm How much do they actually use the regenerative braking?
Show threadex or current IDF unwelcomeSep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jamesjm in many (all?) you can set the amount. Some have single pedal so lift off and you brake. I guess you'd set braking hard in slow moving traffic and lower on motorways. But owners say after getting used to it means on normal journeys just that last bit. Obviously in emergency the brakes come in.
Show threadJames J MalcolmSep 29, 2023

@JohnLoader6 @capntransit

Interesting. How much does it net out to?
Is it even something we can net out (brake dust and tire dust)?

Show threadex or current IDF unwelcomeSep 29, 2023
@jamesjm @capntransit no idea - but when you drive an oil burner think how many times you use the brakes to gently slow down. In an electric that would, if set correctly be done by recharging the battery. It all depends on your driving style.
Show threadFelix 🇺🇦🚴‍♂️🇨🇦🇬🇱🇩🇰🇲🇽🇵🇦 🇪🇺Sep 28, 2023
@capntransit
There are studies that say that every week in big cities we ingest the amount of a credit card (up to five grams) of microplastics into our bodies. Most of it through car tire abrasion, but it has not yet been clearly proven that microplastics have a lasting effect on us, respectively our bodies, or that they can overcome the blood-brain barrier. It would be really good if there would be more studies about. I fear there but much of the car lobby is prevented.
Show threadFelix 🇺🇦🚴‍♂️🇨🇦🇬🇱🇩🇰🇲🇽🇵🇦 🇪🇺Sep 28, 2023

@capntransit
Because that would be a real catastrophe for them, because then you really could pronounce car bans or driving ban in many cities temporarily certainly, if the loads of fine dust or microplastics in the air are too high.

e. g. In German environmental laws only "hazardous substances" (gefährliche Stoffe) are mentioned. But as long as microplastics are not declared as hazardous substances, these laws are of little use to stop environmental pollution.

Show threadCap'n TransitSep 28, 2023
@leobm I mean, drivers kill thousands of people every year by just hitting or crushing them, and there's no ban...
Show threadSy TaffelSep 28, 2023

@capntransit This is misleading.

The original report says 'Eleven per cent of total plastic entering the ocean in 2016 comes from the four key sources of microplastics
we selected to model (tyre dust, pellets, textile micro-fibres, and microplastics in personal care products)' (p89)

The 78% figure is 78% of the 11% from those four sources. Not overall.

While most plastics enter as macroplastics, they break down into microplastics over time.

https://www.systemiq.earth/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BreakingThePlasticWave_MainReport.pdf

Show threadCap'n TransitSep 28, 2023
@sy That's important context, but it's still at least 8.6% of microplastics coming from tires. Do we know how much of the macroplastics is from auto-related sources?
Show threadSy TaffelSep 28, 2023

@capntransit Yes! 8% of approx 8-14 million tons every year is an astonishing amount.

I don't know how much macroplastics would come from cars. Probably very little, but not zero. We don't tend to see many cars or old tires being ditched in rivers or oceans, unlike plastic bottles, packaging, bags or fishing nets.

Show threadDan Fixes Coin-OpsSep 28, 2023
@capntransit @sy your original post still says 78% and folk are still boosting it, definitely wanna hit the edit button on that one
Show threadCap'n TransitSep 28, 2023
@ifixcoinops @sy The easiest way to get me to not do something is to tell me to do it.
Show threadMirre Sep 28, 2023
@capntransit @ifixcoinops @sy so youd rather allow misinformation to spread about a pretty serious topic just because someone told you to correct a small error in your post? Wow.
Show threadCap'n TransitSep 28, 2023
@foervraengd @ifixcoinops @sy I'll get around to it. I know this is gonna blow your mind, but people on the internet have egos, and this little inaccuracy pales in comparison to most of the misinformation flying around.
Show threadDan Fixes Coin-OpsSep 28, 2023
@capntransit @foervraengd @sy dude it's alright, people make mistakes all the time, just fix them as you go along
Show threadflere-imsaho 🇺🇦Sep 28, 2023

@capntransit do yourself a favour and read this and your two other latest toots aloud. (to yourself, but aloud). thanks in advance.

@foervraengd @ifixcoinops @sy

Show threadCap'n TransitSep 28, 2023
@mawhrin @foervraengd @ifixcoinops @sy I'll do you a favor and block you, you condescending twit.
Show threadMirre Sep 29, 2023
@capntransit you are a tar pit @ifixcoinops @sy
Show threadLabhrás Ó SuibhneSep 28, 2023
@mynameistillian saw you boost the original, thought you'd like some context
Show threadPedestrianError  Sep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew Remember when it was really trendy to put those stupid plastic microbeads in bath & beauty products and then they got banned for polluting waterways and killing fish? Time to do that with synthetic rubber car tires. Oh wait, we can’t do that. Men like car tires.
Show threadIncognitimSep 28, 2023

@capntransit
“You’ve got a chemical cocktail in these tires that no one really understands and is kept highly confidential by the tire manufacturers. We struggle to think of another consumer product that is so prevalent in the world, and used by virtually everyone, where there is so little known of what is in them.”

The discovery of 6PPD-q has surprised a lot of researchers, because they've learned that “it’s one of the most toxic substances known, and it seems to be everywhere in the world.”👇

Show threadIncognitimSep 28, 2023

@capntransit
👆 But on the bright side:
The Tyre Collective, a clean-tech startup based in the U.K., has developed an electrostatic plate that affixes to each of a car’s tires: The plates remove up to 60 percent of particles emitted by both tires and brakes, storing them in a cartridge attached to the device. The particles can be reused in numerous other applications, including in new tires.

AND 👇

Show threadIncognitimSep 28, 2023
@capntransit
👆 In San Francisco, scientists studying the pollutants in storm runoff found a potential solution: Rain gardens, installed in yards to capture stormwater, were also trapping 96 percent of street litter and 100 percent of black rubbery fragments. In Vancouver, B.C. researchers found that rain gardens could prevent more than 90 percent of 6PPD-q from running off roads and entering salmon-bearing streams."
https://e360.yale.edu/features/tire-pollution-toxic-chemicals
Road Hazard: Evidence Mounts on Toxic Pollution from Tires

Researchers are only beginning to uncover the toxic cocktail of chemicals, microplastics, and heavy metals hidden in car and truck tires. But experts say these tire emissions are a significant source of air and water pollution and may be affecting humans as well as wildlife.

Yale e360
Show threadyuvipandaSep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew I always wondered 'so when tires wear out, where do the rubber & additives go?'. I guess this is the answer
Show threadLucas TreffenstädtSep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew Oh, another reason why cars are super bad for the planet. Cool.
Show threadHomer 💻 🎮 🎣 🍔🐈Sep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew Yep, tires are toxic, just ask the Coho salmon. https://www.king5.com/amp/article/tech/science/environment/common-tire-chemical-mass-coho-salmon-deaths/281-4845a985-b47e-4dbd-8498-c467f12ddb68
Show threadSean FenianSep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew@bird.makeup egad. a little shocked it's that MUCH.

I remember a finding from years back that roadside dust on London streets was commercially viable lead ore.
Show threadCat WestSep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew@bird.makeup Our friends in Oly, WA are 2 miles from the freeway. Can never open the windows in their home because of tiny black dust particles. “From the tires on the freeway” they tell me. Brush them off every day, they pile up against the screen in less than 24 hrs.
Show threadOR Wine WomanSep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew
🫤
Show threadMark BurtonSep 28, 2023
@capntransit A timely reminder that E-vehicles are not zero emission.
We need a massive reduction in private car use and road freight
#TyreDust
Show threadEllie (migrated for summer)Sep 28, 2023
@capntransit thank god we banned those straws
Show threadClare 🏴Sep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew we have known about this in Los Angeles for decades. Children in low income housing built next to freeways have lungs full of tire dust.
Show threadAnneTheWriterSep 28, 2023

@capntransit

#Airplanes contribute to this. Some years back, I used to live near #Chicago's #OHareAirport. I was far enough away that the huge stadium a few blocks away (then called #RosemontHorizon, now called #AllstateArena) could still hold concerts without airplane noise. But the air had frequent overpowering aroma of burning rubber tires, from the planes landing at the #airport.

#Travel #Airlines #Airports #Pollution #AirQuality #AirPollution #InTheNews #Rubber #CarTires #Tires #AirplaneTires

Show threadDaniele10Sep 28, 2023
@capntransit I worry about living near a major highway, that dust is also wind-born.
Show threadAdamSep 28, 2023
@capntransit
Show threadSalty ⊙▃⊙ 🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦 ✡️Sep 28, 2023

@capntransit @jme_pew Brobdingnagian EV trucks/SUVs that weigh 8-9,000lbs are only going to make this worse.

Don’t forget the brake dust!

Show threadSean FenianSep 28, 2023
@capntransit @jme_pew@bird.makeup Panicking isn't productive. We shouldn't be panicking. We should be acting.
Show threadEkasSep 28, 2023
@martinlentink Fake news. Niet 78% van microplastics van autobanden, maar 78% van 11%. Zie replies.
Show threadXorOwlSep 28, 2023
@capntransit looks like the more descriptive description still wasn't descriptive enough =p