Airborne particulate matter worn from tires has been detected in the atmospheres of two vehicle tunnels and in the open air. The amount is about 20 per cent as great as that from vehicle exhausts, and represents a small fraction of the tread material that wears from tires. Tread rubber was found on tunnel walls and in roadside dust, dustfall, and topsoil. A material balance shows that most of the material lost by tires in service is particulate matter, of which only a small fraction is airborne.
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Pierson et al. (1974) studied this question.