Tire abrasion particles negatively affect plant growth even at low concentrations and alter soil biogeochemical cycling

Abstract

• Tire abrasion particles reduced aboveground and belowground biomass.

• Soil respiration and soil pH increased with increasing amount of added tire particles.

• Litter decomposition is affected by addition of tire particles.

• Effects are apparent already at the lowest added concentration.

Tire particles (TPs) are a major source of microplastic on land, and considering their chemical composition, they represent a potential hazard for the terrestrial environment. We studied the effects of TPs at environmentally relevant concentrations along a wide concentration gradient (0–160 mg g⁻¹) and tested the effects on plant growth, soil pH and the key ecosystem process of litter decomposition and soil respiration. The addition of TPs negatively affected shoot and root growth already at low concentrations. Tea litter decomposition slightly increased with lower additions of TPs but decreased later on. Soil pH increased until a TP concentration of 80 mg g⁻¹ and leveled off afterwards. Soil respiration clearly increased with increasing concentration of added TPs. Plant growth was likely reduced with starting contamination and stopped when contamination reached a certain level in the soil. The presence of TPs altered a number of biogeochemical soil parameters that can have further effects on plant performance. Considering the quantities of yearly produced TPs, their persistence, and toxic potential, we assume that these particles will eventually have a significant impact on terrestrial ecosystems.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Microplastic pollution / Tire particles / Plant growth / Soil respiration / Soil pH / Litter decomposition

References

[1] Audet, P., Charest, C., 2008. Allocation plasticity and plant–metal partitioning: Meta-analytical perspectives in phytoremediation. Environmental Pollution 156, 290–296

[2] Babich, H., Stotzky, G., 1978. Toxicity of zinc to fungi, bacteria, and coliphages: influence of chloride ions. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 36, 906–914

[3] Baensch-Baltruschat, B., Kocher, B., Stock, F., Reifferscheid, G., 2020. Tyre and road wear particles (TRWP) - A review of generation, properties, emissions, human health risk, ecotoxicity, and fate in the environment. Science of the Total Environment 733, 137823

[4] Blettler, M.C.M., Abrial, E., Khan, F.R., Sivri, N., Espinola, L.A., 2018. Freshwater plastic pollution: Recognizing research biases and identifying knowledge gaps. Water Research 143, 416–424

[5] Bowman, D.C., Evans, R.Y., Dodge, L.L., 1994. Growth of chrysanthemum with ground automobile tires used as a container soil amendment. HortScience 29, 774–776

[6] Brandsma, S.H., Brits, M., Groenewoud, Q.R., van Velzen, M.J.M., Leonards, P.E.G., de Boer, J., 2019. Chlorinated paraffins in car tires recycled to rubber granulates and playground tiles. Environmental Science & Technology 53, 7595–7603

[7] Büks, F., Loes van Schaik, N., Kaupenjohann, M., 2020. What do we know about how the terrestrial multicellular soil fauna reacts to microplastic? Soil (Göttingen) 6, 245–267

[8] Charters, F.J., Cochrane, T.A., O’Sullivan, A.D., 2015. Particle size distribution variance in untreated urban runoff and its implication on treatment selection. Water Research 85, 337–345

[9] Councell, T.B., Duckenfield, K.U., Landa, E.R., Callender, E., 2004. Tire-wear particles as a source of zinc to the environment. Environmental Science & Technology 38, 4206–4214

[10] CSTEE, 2003. Opinion of the Scientific Committee on toxicity, ecotoxicity and the environment (CSTEE) on ‘Questions to the CSTEE relating to scientific evidence of risk to health and the environment from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in extender oils and tyres’. European Commission Health & Consumer Protection Directorate-General, Directorate C- Public Health and Risk Assessment, Brussels

[11] de Souza Machado, A.A., Lau, C.W., Kloas, W., Bergmann, J., Bachelier, J.B., Faltin, E., Becker, R., Görlich, A.S., Rillig, M.C., 2019. Microplastics can change soil properties and affect plant performance. Environmental Science & Technology 53, 6044–6052

[12] de Souza Machado, A.A., Lau, C.W., Till, J., Kloas, W., Lehmann, A., Becker, R., Rillig, M.C., 2018. Impacts of Microplastics on the Soil Biophysical Environment. Environmental Science & Technology 52, 9656–9665

[13] Ding, J., Zhu, D., Wang, H.T., Lassen, S.B., Chen, Q.L., Li, G., Lv, M., Zhu, Y.G., 2020. Dysbiosis in the gut microbiota of soil fauna explains the toxicity of tire tread particles. Environmental Science & Technology 54, 7450–7460

[14] EC, 2002. Heavy Metals in Waste, Project ENV.E.3/ETU/2000/0058. European Commission DG ENV. E3, EN 15933:2012 Sludge, treated biowaste and soil- Determination of pH.

[15] Evangeliou, N., Grythe, H., Klimont, Z., Heyes, C., Eckhardt, S., Lopez-Aparicio, S., Stohl, A., 2020. Atmospheric transport is a major pathway of microplastics to remote regions. Nature Communications 11, 3381

[16] Hartmann, N.B., Hüffer, T., Thompson, R.C., Hassellöv, M., Verschoor, A., Daugaard, A.E., Rist, S., Karlsson, T., Brennholt, N., Cole, M., Herrling, M.P., Hess, M.C., Ivleva, N.P., Lusher, A.L., Wagner, M., 2019. Are we speaking the same language? Recommendations for a definition and categorization framework for plastic debris. Environmental Science & Technology 53, 1039–1047

[17] Hastie, T., Tibshirani, R., 1986. Generalized additive models. Statistical Science 1, 297–310.

[18] Haward, M., 2018. Plastic pollution of the world’s seas and oceans as a contemporary challenge in ocean governance. Nature Communications 9, 3

[19] Klöckner, P., Reemtsma, T., Eisentraut, P., Braun, U., Ruhl, A.S., Wagner, S., 2019. Tire and road wear particles in road environment – Quantification and assessment of particle dynamics by Zn determination after density separation. Chemosphere 222, 714–721

[20] Kocher, B., Siewert, C., Lorenz, M., Wolf, U., 2001. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements; Guelph, Canada, p 571.

[21] Kole, P.J., Lohr, A.J., Van Belleghem, F., Ragas, A.M.J., 2017. Wear and tear of tyres: A Stealthy source of microplastics in the environment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14, 1265

[22] Kreider, M.L., Panko, J.M., McAtee, B.L., Sweet, L.I., Finley, B.L., 2010. Physical and chemical characterization of tire-related particles: Comparison of particles generated using different methodologies. Science of the Total Environment 408, 652–659

[23] Krishna, M.P., Mohan, M., 2017. Litter decomposition in forest ecosystems: a review. Energy, Ecology & Environment 2, 236–249

[24] Lehmann, A., Leifheit, E.F., Feng, L., Wulf, A., Bergmann, J., Rillig, M.C., 2020. Microplastic fiber and drought effects on plants and soil are only slightly modified by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Soil Ecology Letters.

[25] Leifheit, E.F., Verbruggen, E., Rillig, M.C., 2015. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi reduce decomposition of woody plant litter while increasing soil aggregation. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 81, 323–328

[26] Panko, J.M., Chu, J., Kreider, M.L., Unice, K.M., 2013. Measurement of airborne concentrations of tire and road wear particles in urban and rural areas of France, Japan, and the United States. Atmospheric Environment 72, 192–199

[27] Qi, Y., Yang, X., Pelaez, A.M., Huerta Lwanga, E., Beriot, N., Gertsen, H., Garbeva, P., Geissen, V., 2018. Macro- and micro- plastics in soil-plant system: Effects of plastic mulch film residues on wheat (Triticum aestivum) growth. Science of the Total Environment 645, 1048–1056

[28] R Core Team, 2020. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL

[29] Rhodes, E.P., Ren, Z., Mays, D.C., 2012. Zinc leaching from tire crumb rubber. Environmental Science & Technology 46, 12856–12863

[30] Rillig, M.C., Lehmann, A., 2020. Microplastic in terrestrial ecosystems. Science 368, 1430–1431

[31] Rillig, M.C., Lehmann, A., Ryo, M., Bergmann, J., 2019. Shaping up: Toward considering the shape and form of pollutants. Environmental Science & Technology 53, 7925–7926

[32] Schulz, M., 1987. Effects of ground rubber on Phaseolus vulgaris. Zeitschrift für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde 150, 37–41

[33] Smolders, E., Degryse, F., 2002. Fate and Effect of Zinc from Tire Debris in Soil. Environmental Science & Technology 36, 3706–3710

[34] Tao, J., Zuo, J., He, Z., Wang, Y., Liu, J., Liu, W., Cornelissen, J.H.C., 2019. Traits including leaf dry matter content and leaf pH dominate over forest soil pH as drivers of litter decomposition among 60 species. Functional Ecology 33, 1798–1810

[35] Team, R.C., (2017). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria

[36] van Kleunen, M., Brumer, A., Gutbrod, L., Zhang, Z., 2020. A microplastic used as infill material in artificial sport turfs reduces plant growth. Plants People Planet 2, 157–166

[37] Wagner, S., Hüffer, T., Klöckner, P., Wehrhahn, M., Hofmann, T., Reemtsma, T., 2018. Tire wear particles in the aquatic environment- A review on generation, analysis, occurrence, fate and effects. Water Research 139, 83–100

[38] Wasserstein, R.L., Schirm, A.L., Lazar, N.A., 2019. Moving to a world beyond “p < 0.05”. American Statistician 73, 1–19

[39] Wik, A., Dave, G., 2009. Occurrence and effects of tire wear particles in the environment – A critical review and an initial risk assessment. Environmental Pollution 157, 1–11

[40] Wood, S., 2017. Generalized Additive Models. Chapman and Hall/CRC.

[41] Wood, S., 2018. mgcv: Mixed GAM Computation Vehicle with Automatic Smoothness Estimation. v1.8–23.

[42] Wood, S.N., 2011. Fast stable restricted maximum likelihood and marginal likelihood estimation of semiparametric generalized linear models. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series B, Statistical Methodology 73, 3–36

[43] Xian, X., In Shokohifard, G., 1989. Effect of pH on chemical forms and plant availability of cadmium, zinc, and lead in polluted soils. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 45, 265–273

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s) 2021. This article is published with open access at link.springer.com and journal.hep.com.cn