<story><title>Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics</title><url>https://www.thedrive.com/news/tire-dust-makes-up-the-majority-of-ocean-microplastics-study-finds</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>kylebenzle</author><text>I worked on a phd for 4 years looking into this problem indirectly and for a decade at Ohio State they have had working solutions to the tire dust issue but it is IMPOSSIBLE to get funding.&lt;p&gt;A Billion dollar industry and NO ONE cares about cleaning it up if it means increasing costs by 5% or more.&lt;p&gt;It has been WELL KNOWN for 50 years! We are basically aerosolizing carbon in MASSIVE amounts right where we live and work. Almost like we are purposefully manufacturing microplastics and dumping them in the air as fast as we can. Imagine taking every new tire and just grinding it down into a fine dust then blowing in into the air and dumping it into the rivers. That is what we are doing, AS FAST AS WE CAN.&lt;p&gt;(For anyone that cares, the solution is natural rubber, which costs slight more than synthetic rubber but lasts longer. So its better for consumers, cheaper all around, and 1,000x better for the environment but Goodyear, Firestone and Michelin flat out refuse to fund research or even block innovation in natural rubber.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;hcs.osu.edu&amp;#x2F;our-people&amp;#x2F;dr-katrina-cornish&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;hcs.osu.edu&amp;#x2F;our-people&amp;#x2F;dr-katrina-cornish&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>crazygringo</author><text>&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;the solution is natural rubber, which costs slight more than synthetic rubber but lasts longer. So its better for consumers, cheaper all around, and 1,000x better for the environment&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Is it? I&amp;#x27;m Googling but can&amp;#x27;t find any evidence for that.&lt;p&gt;Natural rubber tires still produce tons of dust, I can&amp;#x27;t find any reference to it being less harmful in our lungs, and even natural tire rubber seems to biodegrade on the order of &lt;i&gt;thousands&lt;/i&gt; of years.&lt;p&gt;Natural tire rubber is still extremely processed. It&amp;#x27;s nothing like the raw latex that comes out of the plant.&lt;p&gt;So how is it 1000x better for the environment? Or even 2x better, honestly?&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;d love to believe it, but I&amp;#x27;m surprised I can&amp;#x27;t find any references easily. Everything I can find refers to it being more sustainable to manufacture. Nothing about its effects on pollution.</text></comment>
<story><title>Tire dust makes up the majority of ocean microplastics</title><url>https://www.thedrive.com/news/tire-dust-makes-up-the-majority-of-ocean-microplastics-study-finds</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>kylebenzle</author><text>I worked on a phd for 4 years looking into this problem indirectly and for a decade at Ohio State they have had working solutions to the tire dust issue but it is IMPOSSIBLE to get funding.&lt;p&gt;A Billion dollar industry and NO ONE cares about cleaning it up if it means increasing costs by 5% or more.&lt;p&gt;It has been WELL KNOWN for 50 years! We are basically aerosolizing carbon in MASSIVE amounts right where we live and work. Almost like we are purposefully manufacturing microplastics and dumping them in the air as fast as we can. Imagine taking every new tire and just grinding it down into a fine dust then blowing in into the air and dumping it into the rivers. That is what we are doing, AS FAST AS WE CAN.&lt;p&gt;(For anyone that cares, the solution is natural rubber, which costs slight more than synthetic rubber but lasts longer. So its better for consumers, cheaper all around, and 1,000x better for the environment but Goodyear, Firestone and Michelin flat out refuse to fund research or even block innovation in natural rubber.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;hcs.osu.edu&amp;#x2F;our-people&amp;#x2F;dr-katrina-cornish&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;hcs.osu.edu&amp;#x2F;our-people&amp;#x2F;dr-katrina-cornish&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nerdponx</author><text>&amp;gt; Goodyear, Firestone and Michelin flat out refuse to fund research or even block innovation&lt;p&gt;What&amp;#x27;s in it for them? Keeping bad press about tires out of the public view? Fear of lower profit margins?</text></comment>