Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID MO_2024_Salehi

Study the Vertical Distribution of Tire Wear Particles within the Water Column

Institute: Missouri
Year Established: 2024 Start Date: 2024-09-01 End Date: 2025-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $25,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $25,000

Principal Investigators: Maryam Salehi

Project Summary: Despite growing concerns about the large volume of tire wear particles (TWP) released from roads into nearby waterways, we have limited information about how these particles move within water systems. This lack of understanding limited our ability to develop reliable ways to monitor and manage water resources effectively. Given the extensive road network in Missouri and the high levels of stream pollution in the state, urgent research is needed to study how these contaminants move through freshwater environments. This study aims to investigate how TWPs are distributed vertically in water and develop better ways to sample water for monitoring purposes. Our specific objectives are to (1) develop a method for imaging TWPs to understand how they move in water and (2) compare the number of TWPs in water samples collected at different depths under various water flow conditions, simulating natural streams.