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Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

latimes.com

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Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#71
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222987/ > Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved > Results: Almost all commercially available plastic products we sampled—independent of the type of resin, product, or retail source—leached chemicals having reliably detectable EA, including those advertised as BPA free. In some cases, BPA-free products released ch…

I was just floored when the BPA problems arose and all these people I knew were trading in one plastic bottle for a different one. I'm switching to glass and stainless and everyone else is buying more plastic . Just... don't understand why we learn so slow.

It sounds less unreasonable if you realize that "plastic" is about as specific as "crystalline" or "brittle".

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#72
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ford was shipping cars with asbestos brakes in 1993. Asbestos brakes are still readily available on the aftermarket. Brake pads since 2015 sold in California and Washington must have less than 0.1% asbestos by weight (it's unclear to me if that's asbestos alone, or asbestos and other heavy metals like cadmium or mercury). Since the ban was put into place in 2015, you can reasonably infer a) that there were brake pads…

the subway brakes in washington dc are abestos brakes. you can smell them quite strongly.

Can you really smell asbestos? I can't imagine silicate rock having a very high vapour pressure.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the last mile problem can be solved in a million different ways: bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses... Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.

You can separate the issue better by saying intercity and intracity. Getting from your home to a location is usually not much more time than getting from your home to a station. This makes trains unviable for most inner-city travel outside of some lightrail in dense urban areas. For intercity, trains quickly start competing against airlines which are better for most domestic travel because the US is so big.

Subways are one of the most effective inner-city travel systems available. I'd consider that a train system.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#74
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and can only go to select locations at certain times that may or may not align with your final destination or schedule.

the last mile problem can be solved in a million different ways: bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses... Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.

> Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.

That could work, or you know, we could continue research and development of tires with better PM2.5 ratings and vehicles that run on sustainable energy.

I wonder which could be done without a multi-trillion dollar hit on the global economy?

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the last mile problem can be solved in a million different ways: bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses... Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.

bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses Three of those four fail to address the tire issue, which is at the root of this problem.

4 of 5 use traditional tires. Walking uses "plastics" as well if you're using normal shoes with rubber/"plastic" soles.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the last mile problem can be solved in a million different ways: bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses... Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.

You can separate the issue better by saying intercity and intracity. Getting from your home to a location is usually not much more time than getting from your home to a station. This makes trains unviable for most inner-city travel outside of some lightrail in dense urban areas. For intercity, trains quickly start competing against airlines which are better for most domestic travel because the US is so big.

Have you lived in a city with a subway? Give it a few years, and all the stuff is nearer the trains stops anyways. The train is rarely out of the way.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#77

Imagine all the problems that would be solved if someone invented a car with metal wheels, maybe one that can hold hundreds of people, goes really fast, is quiet and efficient....

Trains are less efficient than cars on a per mile basis. https://www.theprch.com/this-vs-that/fuel-efficiency-planes-...

Normalization on a per-mile basis misses the point. You build dense, transit-oriented cities specifically to reduce that denominator. Moving a person one mile has no intrinsic value whatsoever.

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trains are less efficient than cars on a per mile basis. https://www.theprch.com/this-vs-that/fuel-efficiency-planes-...

From the article: "In the US: Cars are generally more efficient than trains when there are 2 or more people traveling." That's rare. The vast majority of traffic is 1 person per car, which completely changes the results here to make it worse than the rest.

The blended 2017 US average is 1.54 people per car, source: https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1040-july...

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#79

This is one reason why I don't like living near freeways, especially near on-ramps, off-ramps, and interchanges. Car pollution isn't just tailpipe emissions - I believe a lot of airborne particulates come from tires and brakes (especially during acceleration, deceleration, and turning). https://www.cdc.gov/air/particulate_matter.html

Cody's Lab did an episode where he collected and refined freeway dust: it's actually decent grade platinum 'ore' from catalytic converter deposition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5GPWJPLcHg

Re: Car tires biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters

#80
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and can only go to select locations at certain times that may or may not align with your final destination or schedule.

the last mile problem can be solved in a million different ways: bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses... Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.

The last mile problem can only be solved by eliminating single family detached homes. You can only reduce the amount of energy required to move bodies so much, at some point you have to start reducing the distances traveled.
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