ACS reports on studded tyre health issues

ERJ staff report (DS)

New York -- Scientists are reporting new evidence on how studded tyres may damage the health of motorists and people living near highways. Their study appears in ACS' Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal.

Anders Ljungman and colleagues note that studded tyres grind away at the road surface, generating the kind of dust particles believed to contribute to heart and respiratory disease when inhaled into the lungs. Studded tyres are winter mainstays in Finland, Norway, Sweden and other northern countries, but have been banned or restricted in others and in some US States because they damage pavement. The scientists' past research found that road dust from studded tyres causes biological changes in cells related to inflammation, a process underlying heart and respiratory diseases.

In the new research, the scientists pinpointed specific changes in proteins in cells related to the road dust exposure. Dust exposure resulted in significant increases in three proteins associated with increased inflammation and decreased levels of seven proteins, including some involved in fighting inflammation and maintaining normal metabolism. The results reveal important chemical markers in the body that could help scientists better understand the link between pavement dust and heart disease, the scientists suggest.

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Press release from ACS