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Comment by hengheng | Hacker News Reader

Gasses yes, but a large part of the particulates is actually emitted by the tires (through abrasion).

A large part of the mass, but not a large part of the PM2.5 and below. With particulates, smaller is a lot more dangerous.

That's correct. In normal conditions, the vast majority of tire particles are very large and stick to the road where they are eventually washed away by rain. Not small enough to hang in the air and end up in our lungs.

Aerosolized tire particulates are mostly a problem in tunnels, where they keep getting thrown up into the air by passing vehicles and recirculating.

Yes, and the problem has become a lot worse since the introduction of diesel pump injectors. Previously, diesel particulates were mostly caught in the lungs and could be coughed up, but now they hit the bloodstream.

If you have a car with regenerative braking, doesn't that also keep brakepad dust out of the air?

I wonder if he means that it's the tyre against the road that creates the dust?

He does. Both types of dust exist.

It does, yes.

Breaking with regen makes EV use the physical breaks less often as compared to combustion engine vehicles. Using breaks also emits particulates although I am not sure how it compares to the volumes of particulate emissions by combustion engines and tires abrasion.

My anecdotal experience having done some work in the automotive sector is that the volume is probably less but brake dust is much nastier and something you do not want to be breathing. At least it doesn't have asbestos in it anymore.

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