If we think of the pollution produced by road transport, the first guilty that come to mind are the exhaust gases: however the emissions produced by diesel and petrol engines are not the only ones to pollute the atmosphere – nor the most harmful to our health. A study published on Particle and fiber toxicology light on the responsibilities of the so -called non -unloading emissions, and in particular on those derived from thewear of the cars braking system. According to the researchers, the particles produced by the consumption of the brake pads would be very harmful to our lungs – even more harmful than the exhaust gases of diesel engines.
Non -unloading emissions. According to a recent report of ISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), in Italy in 2022 the non -exhaust emissions would have produced 10,400 tons of particulates smaller than 10 micrometers (that is, more harmful to the lungs). If it is true that for years we have been trying to limit the unloading emissions of the vehicles, the non -unloading ones (which also include theWear of tires and road surface) have recently been the subject of study and regulation.
In the new Euro 7 legislation, which will enter into force on 1 July 2025, we speak for the first time of the need to also regulate the not unloading emissions which, it is estimated, in 2050 will represent up to 90% of road vehicle emissions.
Worse than diesel. To reach their conclusions, the authors cultivated cells in the laboratory that imitated those of the pulmonary mucosa; They therefore exposed them to particles emitted by a diesel engine and a braking system, discovering that those produced by the brake pads would be much more harmful than those of the exhaust gases, and that some of the harmful effects detected would be connected to lung diseases such as tumor and lung fibrosis, asthma and chronic obstructive chronic bronchopneumopathy.
The role of copper. The main guilty of damage to our respiratory health would be the copper present in the pads, which is used instead of asbestos since this was prohibited in 1992. “When we treated the brake powder with a chemical that neutralizes copper, the toxic effects have decreased”, explain the authors in an article of The Conversation, remembering that almost half of the copper we breathe derives from the wear of the brakes tires.
“This means that copper is at least partially responsible for the harmful properties of these particles.”
And the electric? Electric vehicles are not excluded from the problem: normally heavier, they can even generate greater quantities of dust not unloading than cars powered by diesel or petrol engines. Although some models incorporate the regenerative braking systems that allow the engine to accumulate energy by slowing down the vehicle, to totally arrest a car is necessary a real braking system.
Put a brake (copper). The authors propose to develop new formulations for the braking systems of road vehicles that exclude toxic components such as copper, thus reducing harmful emissions.
In California and in the state of Washington, they are already working in this sense, and have been approved (even if for the “wrong” reason, that is, for the damage that copper would cause marine ecosystems) of the regulations aimed at reducing the copper content in the brake pads.
