Abstract
BackgroundParticles from non-exhaust emissions derived from traffic activities are a dominant cause of toxic metal pollution in urban environments. Recently, studies applying multiple isotope values using the Iso-source and positive matrix factorization (PMF) models have begun to be used as useful tools to evaluate the contribution of each pollution source in urban environments. However, data on the metal concentrations and isotopic compositions of each potential source are lacking. Therefore, this study presents data on toxic metals and Cu, Zn, and Pb isotopic compositions in tires, which are one of the important non-exhaust emission sources.FindingsAmong the toxic metals, Zn had the highest concentration in all tire samples, and the mean concentrations were in the order of Zn > Cu > Pb > Sn > Sb > Ni > Cr > As > Cd. Ni, Zn, Sn, and Sb had higher concentrations in domestic tires (South Korea), and the Cu, Cd, and Pb concentrations were relatively higher in imported tires. The mean values of δ65CuAE647, δ66ZnIRMM3702, and 206Pb/207Pb ranged from − 1.04 to − 0.22‰, − 0.09 to − 0.03‰, and 1.1242 to 1.1747, respectively. The concentrations and isotopic compositions of Cu and Pb in the tires showed large differences depending on the product and manufacturer. However, the differences in Zn concentration and δ66ZnIRMM3702 values were very small compared with those of Cu and Pb. The relationships of the Zn concentration and isotopic composition showed that domestic tires are clearly distinguishable from imported tires. Bi-plots of Cu, Zn, and Pb isotopic compositions indicated that tires can be clearly discriminated from natural-origin and other non-exhaust traffic emission sources.ConclusionsThe multi-isotope signatures of Cu, Zn, and Pb exhibited different isotopic values for other non-exhaust traffic emission sources than for tires, and application of the multi-isotope technique may be a powerful method for distinguishing and managing non-exhaust sources of metal contamination in urban environments.
Highlights
Tires are made from natural rubber, synthetic rubber, metals, carbon black, and other compounds (Sommer et al 2018; Halle et al 2020)
The Zn concentration of domestic tires (Tires A, B, and C) was higher than that of imported tires (Tires D and E) and was similar to those of tires used in the UK (9500 mg/kg; Dong et al 2017) and USA (12,980 mg/kg; Thapalia et al 2010)
The mean concentrations of Ni (8.81 mg/kg), Sn (46.8 mg/kg), and Sb (23.7 mg/kg) were relatively high in the domestic tires, whereas those of Cr, Cu, Cd, and Pb were higher in the imported products
Summary
Tires are made from natural rubber, synthetic rubber, metals, carbon black, and other compounds (Sommer et al 2018; Halle et al 2020). Wear particles from tires are released by traffic-related non-exhaust emissions during vehicle transportations and are one of the important sources of microplastic pollution (Wagner et al 2018; Järlskog et al 2020) and heavy metal pollution. As vehicle traffic and infrastructure such as urban roads are increasing, environmental problems such as plastic and metal pollution related to tire wear particles are increasing worldwide These types of pollution cause harmful effects on human health in urban environments (Khan and Strand 2018; Campanale et al 2020; Rahman et al 2021; Zglobicki and Telecka 2021). This study presents data on toxic metals and Cu, Zn, and Pb isotopic compositions in tires, which are one of the important non-exhaust emission sources
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