High emission of tire rubber particles to the surrounding environment is an inevitable consequence of the current habits of transportation. Although most of the emissions stay within a close range of the sources, it has been proven that the smallest particles can be transported to remote locations through the atmosphere, including inland water bodies. It has been estimated that a relevant portion of the global emissions of tire rubber particles reach surface waters, but effects on aquatic life in the receiving water bodies are not completely understood. In the present study, we used the freshwater sediment dwellers Lumbriculus variegatus and Chironomus riparius to examine the toxicity of tire rubber particles at environmentally relevant concentrations, using different types of sediment and two particle sizes of tire rubber. Overall, the experiments were unable to discern any effects on the growth, survival or reproduction of the two animals tested. Significant differences were found among the animals dwelling on different sediments, but the effects were not attributable to the presence of tire rubber particles. This study provides important information regarding the lack of effect of tire rubber particles in laboratory experiments with model sediment dwellers and opens more questions about the potential effects of tire rubber particles in the real environment with longer durations and varying environmental factors. The influence of other factors such as the leaching of additives in the overall toxicity of tire rubber particles should be also considered.

轮胎橡胶颗粒向周围环境的高排放是当前交通习惯的必然结果。尽管大部分排放物都在源头附近，但事实证明，最小的颗粒可以通过大气输送到偏远地区，包括内陆水体。据估计，全球轮胎橡胶颗粒排放的相关部分到达地表水，但对接收水体中水生生物的影响尚不完全清楚。在本研究中，我们使用了淡水沉积物Lumbriculus variegatus和Chironomus riparius使用不同类型的沉积物和两种粒径的轮胎橡胶来检查轮胎橡胶颗粒在环境相关浓度下的毒性。总体而言，实验无法辨别对所测试的两只动物的生长、存活或繁殖的任何影响。居住在不同沉积物上的动物之间发现了显着差异，但这些影响并非归因于轮胎橡胶颗粒的存在。这项研究提供了关于轮胎橡胶颗粒在模型沉积物居民的实验室实验中缺乏影响的重要信息，并提出了更多关于轮胎橡胶颗粒在具有更长持续时间和不同环境因素的真实环境中的潜在影响的问题。