Tyre Pollution in the UK’s Rivers: Evenlode Case Study
In January 2025, our partners at Earthwatch, working with Emissions Analytics, conducted ground-breaking citizen science research in the Evenlode river catchment. This research demonstrated, unequivocally, that chemicals from tyres are entering our freshwater system – mapping their journey from road to river.
Key findings
- This report builds the evidence base for which compounds are found in tyres and which of them travel from road to river.
- 995 unique organic chemical compounds were detected across all samples.
- Eleven novel tyre compounds – never clearly evidenced before in the literature as coming from tyres – were detected across all locations.
- The chemical compositions polluting the Evenlode differ between locations, but all contain a mix of chemicals known to be toxic to aquatic life: those with the potential to bioaccumulate and those which are known carcinogens.
- Most chemicals analysed for this report were found within rivers at concentrations that could pose risk to aquatic life according to the NORMAN Ecotoxicology Database.
- We are particularly concerned by the levels of methylene chloride and n-hexane – two toxic chemicals – running from roads to rivers across this catchment.
