A study by the University of Southampton (United Kingdom) has found that microscopic particles emitted by certain types of brake pads commonly adjusted can be more toxic than those found in the escape of the diesel vehicle.
The research shows that a greater concentration of copper in some pads is associated with greater harmful effects in the sensitive cells of people’s lungs, as a result of the particles being breathed.
Exposure to pollution generated by cars, trucks and trucks has long been related to a higher risk of lung and heart disease. However, while past attention has been mainly concentrated in exhaust emissions, particles are also released into air from the wear of tires, roads and brake pads, emissions that are not largely regulated by legislation.
These sources of ‘non -exhaust’ pollution are now responsible for most vehicle particles (PM) emissions in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, the main taxpayer being the brake powder.
The main author of the study, Dr. James Parkin, explains that a move to electric cars is taking the problem to a more clear approach: “People generally associate the contamination of cars as of the exhaust pipes and think that the electric vehicles have zero emissions.
“We wanted to understand how the different types of chemical composition of the pads affect the toxicity of the emitted particles and what this could mean for the health of people.”
The scientists undertook an in -depth study that examined the effects on PM pulmonary health of four different types of brake pads with different chemical compositions; Metallic, semi-metallic, not organic and hybrid-caramic asbestos. The researchers were particularly interested in smaller particles, pm2.5 and below (often called fine PMs), 30 times smaller than the diameter of human hair.
These small particles can advance beyond the upper and deeper respiratory tract in the delicate bags of pulmonary air, which allows the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from the blood torrent. Fine PM of a variety of different sources is associated with more than four million premature deaths throughout the world.
Brake pad particles with specialized equipment were collected. In the laboratory, the Southampton equipment used lung coating cells samples and exposed them to fine particles to measure their effects, such as oxidative stress, inflammation or death of cells.
The results showed that of the four types of brake pads, non -asbestas organic pads were the most powerful in terms of inducing inflammation and other toxicity markers, and more toxic to human pulmonary cells than diesel escape particles. The ceramic pads were the second most toxic. It is important to highlight that both the non -asbestas organic and ceramic pads contain high copper concentrations, and subsequent experiments to eliminate this copper found that the PM became less toxic.
The findings, published in the magazine Particle and fiber toxicologysuggest that a reduction in copper content in brake pads could help mitigate some of the harmful effects of vehicle particles. Air pollution, even cars, has been linked to a variety of conditions, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular diseases, dementia and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (lung scars).
The project supervisor, Professor Matthew Loxham, comments: “This research has important implications for health and future policies because as we change diesel and gasoline cars to electric vehicles, non -exhaustive particle emissions will remain. Non -exhaustive emissions could increase over time due to electric vehicles that are heavier than combustion motor vehicles and create greater friction. “
The researchers emphasize that, although electric vehicles do not emit exhaust emissions, they are not emission free and that the health effects of vehicle emissions will not necessarily be completely eliminated once the fleet is completely electrified. They suggest that current legislation, which focuses on PM escape emissions, can be inadequate to completely mitigate the effects of vehicles in the future.