A new study has uncovered a previously overlooked pathway linking road traffic pollution and cultivated crops. While plant uptake of tire wear-derived contaminants was already known, this study is among the first to show under environmentally realistic conditions that tire wear particles themselves act as short- and long-term sources of contamination, gradually released into soil. The research demonstrates that tire particles released due to tire abortion do not simply accumulate in the environment as microplastics; they also serve as reservoirs of toxic additives that may be released into the agricultural systems and potentially enter the food chain. The findings, published in Environmental Research, provide new insight into how everyday road traffic may contribute to contaminant exposure through food production.

RMIT has launched its Food Innovation Hub at the University’s Bundoora campus, strengthening future food research, education and workforce development in Melbourne’s north and across Australia.

A research team led by Iowa State University botanists confirmed cotton was domesticated from a diverse population native to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a potentially fruitful target for finding genetic traits that could strengthen the world’s most important fiber crop.