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Effects of Tire Wear Particle Leachate on Juvenile Fathead Minnow Behavior
This is the topic of Grace Mattson's honors thesis. She looked at how the mixture of synthetic chemicals and heavy metals that leach out of tire wear particles into water impact larval fathead minnows' (Pimephales promelas) behavior and mortality.
What Have We Learned?
Many sublethal effects (things that didn't kill the fish) were noted, indicating neurological (brain) damage. Several of these were:
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Immobility (lack of movement)
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Sporadic and unpredictable movements
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The lethal effects (things that killed fish) were proportional to the exposure length and concentration. This means that the longer they were exposed to tire wear particles, and the more concentrated they were, the more likely the fish were to die.
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