Skip to main content

Swedish study of road pollution

A study carried out in Sweden has highlighted the key risks of road pollution. The study was made by the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (Svenska Miljöinstitutet, IVL) and has shown that wear-and-tear from roads and tyres constitute the largest source of microplastics emissions. Kerstin Magnusson, Ecotoxicologist at the Institute, states that the study, which was conducted on behalf of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket), is the largest mapping of microplastics emissions
March 10, 2016 Read time: 1 min
A study carried out in Sweden has highlighted the key risks of road pollution. The study was made by the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (Svenska Miljöinstitutet, IVL) and has shown that wear-and-tear from roads and tyres constitute the largest source of microplastics emissions. Kerstin Magnusson, Ecotoxicologist at the Institute, states that the study, which was conducted on behalf of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket), is the largest mapping of microplastics emissions to ever be conducted in Sweden. However the researchers have yet to find out how far these particles reach in the environment. Magnusson said that the study highlights the decreased particle waste from sewage as well as increasing knowledge over other means of particle transports.

Related Content

  • Pothole challenge from mild winters
    March 26, 2020
    Sweden is seeing an additional pothole challenge from recent mild winters.
  • Setting ambitious road safety requirements
    May 14, 2015
    IRF calls for road safety audits on all donor-funded projects By the end of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, it is estimated that the World Bank and other major development donors will collectively have invested well over US$100 billion in road infrastructure programmes across hundreds of individual projects, representing a considerable opportunity to introduce or strengthen risk management practices from the design stage. In January 2014, the International Road Federat
  • Green solutions for safety road markings
    May 19, 2014
    Investigating the options for green roadmarkings solutions - *Dr Alexander Klein reports Global challenges such as climate change, urbanisation and aging societies are increasingly becoming more important in managing any industry today. Road markings must ensure traffic safety. But there are differences among them—in terms of functionality and performance and eco-friendliness. A certified life cycle assessment for major road marking materials and application technologies has found that cold plastic agglome
  • The risk of drugged driving on Europe’s roads
    May 1, 2018
    Drivers under the influence of drugs present a major hazard to road safety, according to a new report by the pan-European police agency TISPOL The risk from driving under the influence of psycho-active drugs results in road fatalities and injuries from crashes right across Europe, according to the report. The problem relates to both legal prescription medication as well as illegal drugs, notes TISPOL – European Traffic Police Network – which was established by the traffic police forces of Europe to impro