Toxicity of tire wear particle leachate to the marine macroalga, Ulva lactuca.

Andrew Turner*, Lynsey Rice

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Tire wear particles filed from the treads of end-of-life vehicle tires have been added to sea water to examine the release of Zn and the toxicity of the resulting leachate and dilutions thereof to the marine macroalga, Ulva lactuca. Zinc release appeared to be diffusion-controlled, with a conditional rate constant of 5.4 μg[L(h)(1/2)](-1), and about 1.6% of total Zn was released after 120 h incubation. Exposure to increasing concentrations of leachate resulted in a non-linear reduction in the efficiency of photochemical energy conversion of U. lactuca and, with the exception of the undiluted leachate, increasing accumulation of Zn. Phototoxicity was significantly lower on exposure to equivalent concentrations of Zn added as Zn(NO(3))(2), suggesting that organic components of leachate are largely responsible for the overall toxicity to the alga. Given the ubiquity and abundance of TWP in urban coastal sediments, the generation, biogeochemistry and toxicity of tire leachate in the marine setting merit further attention.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3650-3654
Number of pages0
JournalEnviron Pollut
Volume158
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2010

Keywords

  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Seawater
  • Ulva
  • Water Pollutants
  • Zinc

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Toxicity of tire wear particle leachate to the marine macroalga, Ulva lactuca.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this