Note on In-Traffic Measurement of Airborne Tire-Wear Participate Debris

An experiment measuring the tire rubber caught in the engine intake air filter of a one year old automobile was performed to determine in-traffic measurements of airborne tire-wear particulate debris. The air thus sampled tended to be near the axis of the plume of the traffic encountered. The amount of tire rubber on the filter was measured by analyzing the filter content for styrene-butadiene rubber, a synthetic elastomer characteristic of tire tread material. Results indicated that the contribution of tire-wear to the suspended particulate matter associated with road traffic was 1 to 4 percent. (ND)