Car tire pollution

 Damian Carrington wrote an article in the Guardian on 3 June 2022 entitled "Car tyres produce vastly more particle pollution than exhausts, tests show; Toxic particles from tyre wear almost 2,000 times worse than from exhausts as weight of cars increases." (LINK) The importance of this article is not merely that cars produce even more pollution, but that electric autos are also not pollution-free. He goes on to write: "The tests also revealed that tyres produce more than 1tn ultrafine particles for each kilometre driven, meaning particles smaller than 23 nanometres. These are also emitted from exhausts and are of special concern to health, as their size means they can enter organs via the bloodstream. Particles below 23nm are hard to measure and are not currently regulated in either the EU or US." 

Eliminating the most toxic tires is one possibility, but the overall data is striking: "Used tyres produced 36 milligrams of particles each kilometre, 1,850 times higher than the 0.02 mg/km average from the exhausts. A very aggressive – though legal – driving style sent particle emissions soaring, to 5,760 mg/km."  It seems that much depends on the driving style, with moderate drivers producing less pollution, and "there has been particular debate over whether battery electric vehicles (BEVs), which are heavier than conventional cars and can have greater wheel torque, may lead to more tyre particles being produced." 

The good news is that battery powered vehicles are becoming lighter, but that does not mean that they do not pollute. Anyone who owns and operates a vehicle should consider this data, if they want to protect God's creation.

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