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The Netherlands and Austria plan to jointly draft a proposal to restrict the use of 6PPD, a chemical used in car tires to extend their lifespan. The initiative follows growing concern over the environmental impact of 6PPD and its transformation product, 6PPD-quinone, which has been shown to be toxic, particularly to salmon species.

Emissions Analytics’ inaugural Tyre Emissions & Sustainability Europe conference took place in Prague, February 2024. The Conference welcomed leaders from both industry and academia to share their insights and perspectives regarding how we tackle the challenge of developing tyres with less environmental impact. Tyres are essential for our society to function. How do we produce tyres that are well designed enough to minimise polluting tyre wear but constituted in way to be easy to recycle? How can the tyre industry become more sustainable while delivering tyres to consumers at an affordable price?

Researchers at the University of Delaware have introduced an innovative method to address the environmental and health challenges posed by toxic chemicals in end-of-life tires, particularly 6PPD. This molecule, used in tires for UV protection, releases harmful particles during tire wear and landfill decomposition, contaminating waterways and causing significant ecological harm, including fish die-offs.

An international study has identified tire particles (TPs) as the largest source of microplastics, urging targeted research to address their environmental and health risks. Accounting for nearly a third of all microplastics, TPs differ from traditional microplastics in their size, chemical composition, and behavior in ecosystems, prompting researchers to advocate for their classification as a distinct environmental concern.

On the heels of its November 2023 commitment to gather information on the common tire additive 6PPD - and its chemical by-product 6PPD-quinone – that could be used to inform a subsequent regulatory action, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today the publication of a draft testing method (EPA Method 1634) that will enable government agencies, Tribes, and other groups to determine where and when 6PPD-quinone is present in local stormwater and surface waters. The 6PPD-quinone draft method is now available at https://www.epa.gov/cwa-methods. “We heard from the Tribes and other governmental agencies that one of the highest priorities for the agency should be the rapid development of a test for 6PPD-quinone,” said Casey Sixkiller, Regional Administrator of the agency’s Region 10 office in Seattle.

After a break, the TRAC Rubber Recycling Symposium returned to its biennial schedule with an October conference in Nova Scotia. TRAC's President and CEO, Carol Hochu, emphasized the collective journey toward sustainability as the central theme of the event. Hosted by Divert NS in Nova Scotia, the symposium delved into sustainability rather than mere recycling, with Divert NS CEO Stacy Breau spotlighting the province's successful stewardship program boasting an 88.5% recovery rate. The recovered material finds application in road construction and engineering projects, with the aim to shift from recycling to a waste reduction approach.

Researchers at the University of Vienna's Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Sciences have now demonstrated that chemicals released from tires do, in fact, enter the food stream and may be consumed along with Quinone 6PPD which was defined as a toxin that impacts Coho Salmon. Their examinations of the impacts of contaminants from tire wear on lettuce revealed that: The lettuce absorbed all the chemicals investigated, some of which were quite hazardous. It will take further research to determine how this mechanism truly occurs in arable soils. An international publication called Environmental Science & Technology has officially published the report.

Smithers – a global leader in rubber, plastics and polymer testing and market reports – spoke with tires expert Howard Colvin, author of Smithers’ latest report The Future of Carbon Black vs. Silica in Tires to 2027, about the challenges facing the tire industry and expected developments. Howard Colvin has many years of experience in the tire industry with 22 years at Goodyear and 12 years with Cooper. At Cooper he worked in the Advanced Technology group and led Cooper’s consortium of academia, industry and government to develop a guayule concept tire. Howard is the 2021 Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology award winner for exhibiting exceptional technical competency in rubber science and technology.

6PPD is an antioxidant and antiozonant that helps prevent the degradation and cracking of rubber compounds caused by exposure to oxygen, ozone and temperature fluctuation. 6PPD is used industry wide to help tires resist degradation and cracking, which is vital for driver and passenger safety. Antioxidants support increased tire endurance. There are no known alternatives to 6PPD that provide the same safety and performance characteristics in a tire.