The smog causes almost 50 thousand premature deaths every year in our country. And it’s not just the fault of the petrol engines. Every time a car brakes, in fact, the powders produced by the clutch of the tablets with the tires, a mixture of substances of various kinds that can be harmful as, if no longer, of the discharges of cars, releases in the air. The confirmation comes from a study published in particles and Fiber Technology from a team of researchers from the University of Southampton.
The residues of brakes and tires are the main component of what are defined in technical jargon emissions not to the exhaust, a term that identifies all the polluting powders entered into the atmosphere by cars with the exclusion of those produced directly by the engine drain gases. They are very studied in recent years because it is known that they contribute to provoking the damage to health traditionally attributed to smog, and because unlike the exhaust gases, they are a problem that will not be solved with the introduction of electric cars.
Smog, not just exhaust powders
Currently the emissions not due to the unloading represent the major fraction of the particulate matter associated with road transport (54 percent of fine dust and 69 percent of the ultra -thin ones). And therefore, understand how bad they do, and why, it is essential to predict what awaits us in the future without traditional cars, and imagine the most suitable measures to minimize risks.
The English study was carried out in the laboratory, testing the effects of powders from brakes and tires on human cellular crops, to identify the formation of markers connected to the onset of tumors and respiratory problems. The researchers tested several mixes of substances: the dust obtained from the wear of the latest generation tablets, those of the oldest models, now prohibited because they contained asbestos, and those of the exhaust gases of a diesel engine.
The results revealed that modern tablets cause more serious cell damage than those containing asbestos did. And that both types of tablets are more harmful than the unloading gases of cars in diesel are. The data that emerged from the experiments suggest that the powders produced by the brakes of cars would increase the risk of developing lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, chronic obstructive chronic bronchopneumopathy.
The risks of brake particulates
By studying the composition of the particulate matter produced by the brakes, the researchers identified a high presence of copper residues. And they confirmed that these microparticles can easily penetrate the cells of the lungs. By neutralizing copper with special chemicals, moreover, the damage produced by particulates seem to be reduced considerably. Another detail that according to the authors of the study indicates that this metal is responsible, at least in part, of the harmful effects of braking dust.
Reduce the copper content of the brakes and tires could therefore be an effective strategy to minimize the effects of the car in health sector, especially in the future, when thermal motor machines will begin to become increasingly rare on our roads, and the contribution of the exhaust gases will be irrelevant. Obviously, for now these are only hypotheses, which will be confirmed in the future with further research.