Cassie Rauert: ‘Big wheels keep on turning – tyre related pollution in the Australian environment’

Tyre wear particles (TWPs) are now considered one of the largest sources of microplastics to the urban environment, yet we still know very little about their occurrence, fate (where they end up) and health impact on the environment. TWPs also contain a wide range of chemicals that can leach into our waterways with certain chemicals showing very high toxicity to aquatic species. This presentation will discuss our current research in this area, showing that TWPs and associated chemicals are detected ubiquitously in the Australian environment with stormwater runoff during severe storm events a primary source of these pollutants to our ecosystems.

Cassandra is a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), University of Queensland. Her research interests include investigating human exposure to microplastics including developing new methods for detecting micro and nanoplastics; and understanding the impact of tyre road wear particles and their chemical additives on our environment.

Note: we are moving the evening meetings forward by half-an-hour this year - so we’ll open for refreshments at 6:30 and start the meeting at 7 pm.

Refreshments at 6:30 pm, presentation at 7:00 pm., followed by Q&A.

Free for members, non-members are very welcome - any small donation appreciated.