Are plastic-embedded roads a threat to aquifers?

Published on by in Non Profit

Are plastic-embedded roads a threat to aquifers?

Do plastic-embedded roads pose a long-term danger to aquifers by eventually releasing plastic nanoparticles to the soil?

We are concerned about the reusing/recycling claims by plastic manufacturers who buy all our clean-dry-empty plastic. 

Some manufacturers are embedding plastic into roads. They, however, do not give clear answers about the implication of using these recycle plastic in road's bottom layers. 

Will the plastic eventually break off from the road, change to nanoparticles and end up in the aquifers? Will it flow to the streams nearby due to the rain and reach the oceans?

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5 Answers

  1. First of all, every non-degradable pollutant reaches oceans. *Fact*

    Second, the answer is "Yes", it will hamper.

    Actually, this is the worst we can do to our environment, creating Land Fill Site under Load Bearing Condition. Every moving vehicle will test the elasticity of the deployed plastics.

    Also, the heat generation from the friction will generate little amount of hazardous fumes. This little amount will be significant, by considering the  length of the road.

    Forget about Nanoparticles (unexplored Impact Analysed Area), think about PM2.5 and Leachate Generation during Rain or by Strom or by any local stream.

    How one can think of such a bad idea of making plastic roads. 

    Think Again!!

  2. A properly maintained road will not break down and release it's constituent components into the environment so there is nothing to fear if proper and timely preventative maintenance is applied.  Moreover, what is your action level for recycled polymer nano particles?  It is my educated guess that such particulates would be so grossly inconsequential, that it ultimately doesn't matter any way.

  3. Yes, it is, just like other things made of plastic like plastic bags or sacs. Actually it is field of important research because we have to study contribution to pollution by roads and highways due to wearing and tearing  of tires of vehicles and their drainage to run-off & groundwater. It is a matter of Environmental Geotechnics concern which is still ignored in most of roads/highways constructions.

  4. Like Tom Mallard I don't know of any studies directly relating to this, but my assumption would also be that the road surface will erode / degrade over time as it is will be an abrasive running surface.

    It's worth remembering of course, that roads are already a major contributor to diffuse pollution, so it will not necessarily be that they would become more polluting, but rather that the nature of the pollution will be different. Toxic, non-soluble, pervasive sediments are already a major concern in relation to highways outfalls. In 2014, the Highways Agency (as it was known then) and the Environment Agency in England estimated that 8 million tonnes of contaminated sediments from roads were entering the water environment every year.

    The good thing (if there can be one) is that the existing contaminated sediments are relatively easy to remove from the run-off through the use of appropriately designed and implemented settlement systems (e.g. Downstream Defender vortex separators) or filter systems (e.g. Up-Flo Filter). Many of these have already been fitted and continue to be fitted to new and existing highways outfalls in the UK.

    One of the challenges with potential future plastic micro-particles could be that their specific gravity may be very close to 1.0 (i.e. they may be fairly neutrally buoyant in water). This would require wider implementation of more filter type systems that are more costly to supply, fit and maintain than gravity settlement type systems.

    1 Comment

    1. Thank you for confirming my fears. Thank you also for reassuring that there exists technology to mitigate the ill-effects.

       

  5. Knowing of no studies my assumption is yes, they will erode to micro-particles by tires which also emit micro-particles from flex and friction, as a kid sweeping the sidewalks in front of a business in the morning tire dust was the main part, it's heavy so doesn't go far without a wind.

    A lot of it isn't water soluble and as a cyclist when you wash shorts & socks it floats and goes down the drain last, so, rinsing riding clothing is likely a good way to collect samples on this !! :)

    We need to get ahead of these things and get diligent about them, if it's poisonous it affects everyone and assuming it is values the risk shown elsewhere by plastics now nano-sized very disturbing as they haven't been tested under controls and already "in the wild" like this idea.

    The strategy is fine to reuse things yet not w/o controlled testing on living organisms first a minimal step to ask.