New publication in Nature Communications explores unequal health risks from tire wear pollution across China
Non-exhaust emissions are rapidly emerging as a major contributor to traffic related particulate pollution, yet their emission patterns and impacts remain poorly constrained at large spatial scales. A new study co-led by Thilo Hofmann and colleagues, published in Nature Communications, explores how tire and road wear particles disproportionately affect people living along major economic corridors and in megacities across China.
The study provides a nationwide, road network resolved assessment of tire and road wear particles by combining field measurements, machine learning models, traffic activity data and epidemiological models. This approach allowed the team to estimate how much fine particulate matter from tire and road wear is released across China and where the resulting exposure is greatest. The analysis shows that a large share of these emissions comes from vehicle induced resuspension, meaning particles already on the road are repeatedly lifted back into the air. This matters because the burden is not evenly distributed: densely populated regions, especially economic corridors and major cities, face the highest exposure and associated health risks.
The paper also looks ahead and shows that the contribution of tire and road wear particles to fine particulate pollution is projected to increase sharply by mid-century. At the same time, the authors indicate that combining different mitigation measures could substantially lower annual emissions. The study therefore expands the focus of traffic pollution research beyond exhaust alone and underlines the need to address non exhaust particles in transport and public health policy.
The article is co-authored by Thilo Hofmann from the Department of Environmental Geosciences, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna. Other authors are Yunfei Ma, Wei Chen, Zhi Cao, Jingyi Zhang, Jianfei Peng, Tong Zhang and Yan Lin from the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Technology for Complex Trans Media Pollution, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University; Elisabeth S. Rødland from the Norwegian Institute for Water Research in Oslo; Shuxiao Wang, Huan Liu and Qingru Wu from the State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, School of Environment, Tsinghua University; and Jingyuan Li from the Light Vehicle Emission and Energy Saving Testing and Research Department, CATARC Automotive Test Center in Tianjin.
Nature Communications