Impacts of Air Pollution from Ultrafine Tire-Wear Particles on Cardiorespiratory Health

Due to reduction in engine emissions from vehicles, the relative contribution of tire-wear in total traffic related air pollution is increasing [1]. However, our understanding of the health effects of ultrafine tire particles is still limited. Light-duty tires are typically made up of synthetic rubber, derived from crude oil, rather than natural rubber. This increases the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) component of tires, and the potential cardiotoxicity of tire-related particulate matter (PM) [2]. For this PhD CASE project, the student will work closely with our Industrial Partner, Emissions Analytics [3] who is global leader in independent testing of realworld emissions for passenger and commercial vehicles. Here the student will learn cutting-edge chemical analytics techniques and generate real-life tire-wear particles for use in their biomedical test systems. At the University of Manchester, the PhD candidate will investigate the impact of air pollution from tire-wear on human health using lung and cardiac in vitro assay systems focussing on each system independently as well as the interconnectivity between lung and heart systems. To relate findings from the in vitro systems studies to human population health, the project will finish with an epidemiological investigation which adapts current exposure models of PM pollution and health [4] to include PM from tire-wear.