Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have, for the first time, provided concrete figures on the abrasion of mountain bike tyres in off-road conditions. Their findings contribute to a better understanding of the global microplastic cycle. They report on their research in the journal „Science of The Total Environment“.
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Rubber counts as microplastic pollution, because it has the same effects: It will not biodegrade, is not healthy to have in your body, but will accumulate there
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_pollution
Is there an alternative to rubber tires that does biodegrade?
No afaik but I’d bet there’s at least someone working on that - it’s needed asap, as car tires shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment.
Wow, that’s a lot higher than I expected.
Whoever comes up with a viable solution stands to make a lot of money.
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I think only about 25% of tire materials are natural. The rest are synthetic rubber, resins and fillers, then metal.
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