2024 Tire Emissions Research Conference Speakers

Marie-Christine Gromaire is a top grade researcher at École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (France), within Leesu laboratory. She develops pluridisciplinary research on the sources, nature and management of urban stormwater contaminants, mainly developed as part of OPUR Observatory of Urban Hydrology in Paris. Over the last years, she focused on hydrological and physico-chemical processes within runoff source control measures, the resilience of such facilities, as well as the modelling of their large-scale deployment. She led the Roulépur project (2015-2020, French national call) and is strongly involved in the LifeAdsorb project (2018 – 2023, LIFE17 ENV/FR/000398), on innovative solutions for at source control of micropollutants loads conveyed in road and carpark runoff.

Philipp Stinshoff is an environmental engineer who received his Master’s degree from the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Since 2020, he is a PhD student at TUM in the research group ‘Urban Stormwater Management’ led by Prof. Dr. Brigitte Helmreich. His research focuses on the mobility and retention of heavy metals and sediments from road runoff in engineered and near-natural decentralized treatment systems.

My name is Claudia Hledik, and I am a research associate at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria. I work at the Institute for Sanitary Engineering and Water Pollution Control, where my research focuses on developing innovative technologies to remove trace substances and micropollutants from water systems. My work is dedicated to improving water quality and addressing the challenges posed by emerging contaminants in both industrial and environmental water treatment processes.

Dr. Rødland is researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA). Dr. Rødland is a marine biologist (MSc) and environmental chemist (PhD), and has been working on road-related pollution topics for more than 12 years. She has a 7 year background from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, before doing her PhD work on the analysis of tire-road wear particles using PYR-GC/MS at NIVA and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). Dr. Rødland’s current research focuses the occurrence and fate of tire-road wear particles and related chemicals in the environment, including method improvements for identification and quantification, and evaluating different treatment options for road and tunnel runoff.

Dr.-Ing. Ilka Gehrke is the Head of the Department Environment and Resources at Fraunhofer UMSICHT in Oberhausen, Germany. With a Diploma in Environmental Process Engineering from Clausthal-Zellerfeld University of Technology and a Doctoral thesis on “Microsieves – microtechnical production and membrane characterization” from Ruhr University Bochum, Dr. Gehrke has a strong academic background.Dr. Gehrke began their professional career as a research assistant at Fraunhofer UMSICHT in 2001 and has been leading the Environment and Resources department since 2013. They have also been a guest lecturer at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences and the University of Duisburg-Essen.Dr. Gehrke is a member of several professional organizations, including the German Water Partnership (GWP), the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA), the Center for Water and Environment (ZWU), and the MERCUR Science Policy Network. Their research interests focus on water management and technology, as well as the energy transition and its impact on water management.

Anabela Cachada, PhD, is a researcher in the field of Soil Quality and Risk Assessment at CIIMAR & University of Porto (Portugal). She holds a PhD in Chemistry and a Master’s degree in Geochemistry from the University of Aveiro (Portugal). She is a member of the ISO/TC 190 (Soil Quality) committee, a collaborator with the FAO-UN (Global Soil Partnership) and she is part of the executive committee of the European Society for Soil Conservation. She has worked for several years in the field of soil pollution, with a particular interest in risk assessment of contaminated sites and understanding how soil pollution affects ecosystem services. Additionally, her research activities have focused on the benefits of sustainable management practices for soil health.

Fanny-Laure Thomassin is a PhD student investigating the transfer, reactivity, and ecotoxicity of tire and road wear particles (TRWP) and associated pollutants in aquatic environments. Her research focuses on the chemistry and ecotoxicology of organic micropollutants derived from TRWP, their occurrence in peri-alpine lakes, and their impact on biocenosis. She is particularly interested in the molecules 6PPD-quinone (N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine-quinone) and BaP (benzo[a]pyrene).

Dr. Sara Goncalves is a postdoctoral researcher for the department of Environmental Toxicology at EAWAG since 2023. Her research focus on the effects of anthropogenic stressors in freshwater microbial communities. She completed a PhD in Natural sciences with minor in Ecotoxicology, from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU, Germany).

Dr. Jenifer McIntyre is an associate professor of aquatic toxicology at the Washington State University’s School of the Environment. She is passionate about science that effects change. Her B.Sc. (1997) in environmental biology at Queen’s University led to the ban of a pulp mill effluent used as a road dust suppressant. Her M.S. (2004) from the University of Washington on contaminant bioaccumulation led the Washington State Department of Health to issue a fish consumption advisory for Lake Washington. Her Ph.D. (2010) research at UW on olfactory neurotoxicity of copper in coho salmon helped pass legislation in Washington and California that phases out metals in brake pads. In 2020, Dr. McIntyre and colleagues discovered a novel chemical leaching from vehicle tires that is one of the most acute toxicants known to science, explaining acute die-offs of coho salmon in roadway-impacted watersheds. She currently focuses on the ecotoxicology of urban stormwater runoff and the biological effectiveness of green stormwater infrastructure.

2022 – Full Professor (W3) at the Institute of Applied Geoscience of the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.2021 Habilitation at the Faculty of Science of the University of Bern, Switzerland.2017 Certificate of Advanced Studies in Higher Education, University of Bern, Switzerland.2013-2022 Lecturer for laboratory methods in Physical Geography (50%) and head of the laboratory of the Institute of Geography (50%) of the University of Bern, Switzerland.2010-2013 Research Assistant (Postdoc) at the Unit Soil Science at the Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland.2010 PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in Geography.2006-2010 PhD student at the Institute of Geography, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.2006 Diploma in Environmental Science, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany2000-2006 Studies in Environmental Sciences, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Anya Sherman is currently finishing her PhD at the University of Vienna, where she was supervised by Thilo Hofmann and Thorsten Hüffer. Her research has focused on plant uptake of tire additives, as well as the detection of rubber additives in air of indoor climbing halls.

Harriet is a first year PhD student working at the department of Environmental Analytical Chemistry at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. She studied her Bachelors in Chemistry at the University of Sheffield, UK, before studying an interdisciplinary Masters in Environmental Sciences at the University of Vienna, Austria. Her PhD focuses on tyre and road wear particles and their associated chemicals. She is investigating differences in chemical fingerprints between different tyre material leachates and extracts and their transferability to environmental data, as well as quantification methods for TRWP in the environment.

Valérie Forest received her PhD in Biologic and Medical Engineering in 2005 from the Jean Monnet University in Saint-Etienne, France. After a 4-year post-doctoral position in the Research Centre of the Hospital Centre of the University of Montreal/Montreal Cancer Institute (Canada), she joined Mines Saint Etienne, one of the top 10 French graduate schools of engineering. She is Professor in the Center for Biomedical and Health Engineering, U1059 Inserm. She is Head of the Biological activity of inhaled particles Department and her current main research interest is the cytotoxicity of inhaled nanomaterials.

Miles Kunze is a research assistant at the Technical University of Ilmenau in Germany since 2021. He also received his bachelor’s and master’s degree at the Technical University of Ilmenau, dealing with tyre emission measurements and the analysis of the particle flow around a tyre. His research topics are now related to CFD simulations of particle flows in the circumference of a vehicle and the particle distribution of vehicle-related emissions in the environment.

Juanita Rausch earned her Master degree in Geology in 2008 at the University of Hamburg (Germany) and her PhD degree on the field of volcanology in 2014 at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). In her PhD she studied the processes of particle (volcanic ash) formation and resulting eruption mechanisms based on quantitative morphological and chemical approaches (SEM/EDX, fractal analysis and micro computed x-ray tomography). She was between 2010 – 2014 teaching assistant and between 2014 – 2016 senior assistant at the University of Fribourg. Since 2014 she is working at the enterprise Particle Vision on environmental questions with a special emphasis on the morpho-chemical characterization and source apportionment of natural and human-caused dust. Currently, Juanita Rausch is co-owner and director of Particle Vision.

Dr Cassandra Rauert is an established environmental health scientist, with a career divided between working within government and academia. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) at the University of Queensland, Australia. Her research focusses on developing new methods for monitoring human and environmental exposure to microplastics with a special focus on tyre wear and their associated chemicals. She has published the first Australian environmental data on these pollutants and works closely with local governments to understand the fate and transport of both tyre wear and the associated chemicals within an Australian context.

Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) are produced during abrasion of tires on road pavement. Low amounts of small-sized TRWP (10 m) enter the atmosphere during use but between 95 99% of total emitted TRWP are expected to be deposited on the road side and be transferred into the nearby soil, from which a fraction will eventually enter surface water. A modelling study estimated that 49% of TRWP emitted on the road would reach the freshwater system in the French Seine basin. Field measurements suggest that levels of TRWP decrease between its emission source and the aquatic environment with concentrations of 0.1 – 100 g kg-1 on the road side, 0.5 1.2 g kg-1 in river sediment and 0.5 5 mg L-1 in river water. Chemicals such as 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) and 1,3-diphenylguanidine (DPG) are intensively used as vulcanization agents; they can represent up to 0.5 % of the tire rubber. Phenylenediamine compounds, such as N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (6PPD), are also commonly used as antioxidants and antiozonants (about 0.9% of the tire tread). The distribution and fate of TWPs and associated chemicals in the aquatic environment is still poorly understood. Moreover, the potential toxic impacts of these tire-associated chemicals for aquatic biota vary widely suggesting specific species sensitivity.

Dr. Florian Breider is the head of the Central Environmental Laboratory at EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology – Lausanne) since 2018. He has studied environmental chemistry and physics at the University of Lausanne and obtained his PhD at the University of Neuchâtel in the field of isotope biogeochemistry. After his PhD he was research scientist at the Atmospheric Particles Research Laboratory of EPFL and then Research Associate at Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. His major research interest are the fate and impact of micropollutants and micro/nanoplastics on the ecosystems and their potential consequences on human health. Since 2020, his is studying the impact of tire and road wear particles and associated chemicals on the aquatic and terrestrial environments.

Since 01/2012 Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research at the Department of Environmental Analytical Chemistry (EAC) , Focus of activities: Investigation of transformation pathways of chemicals in water, soil and biota by LC-HRMS07/2009-12/2011 Institut of Pharmacology, Pharmazie and Toxicology, Veterinary medicine, University of Leipyig, Focus of activities: Quantification of drugs and TPs in differnt matrices09/2007 – 06/2009 MPI of Molecular Plant Physiology, Golm, Research Group: Prof. Dr. L. Willmitzer, Focus of activities: lipodomics in plant matrices08/2003 – 07/2007 University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands, Research group: U. Karst, PhD thesis: “Ferrocene-based derivatizing agents for LC/MS and LC/EC/MS”07/2001 – 10/2001 ERASMUS-internship at “Micro and Trace Analysis Center” in Antwerp (Belgium), University Antwerp (UIA) Research Group: Prof. Dr. F. Adams Focus of activities: LC/ICP-MS of metallothioneins10/1998 – 05/2003 Study of chemistry, University of Leipzig, Diploma thesis : „Untersuchung nichtkovalenter Protein-Liganden-Wechselwirkung mit ESI-FT-ICR-MS“ Research group: Prof. S. Berger

My name is Louisa Landebrit, and I am a PhD student in my second year at the Université Gustave Eiffel, in Nantes, France. After a master’s degree in analytical chemistry for the environment and water quality and treatment, I worked for two years as an engineer on the development of a protocol for the detection and quantification of microplastics (in the range of 25 µm to 500 µm) in rivers using Py-GC-MS/MS technique. I then started my thesis in 2023 on the topic of environment impregnation with tire and road wear particles (TRWP). One objective of the research carried out is to develop an analytical method for trace-level TRWP assessment in different environmental matrices. The study site covers the Loire River estuary catchment. The benefits of the research include a better understanding area impregnated by TRWP and of the ecotoxicological risks associated with this emerging pollutant.

Jointed Bridgestone in 2012 and engaged in rubber research. Studied material science of rubber and polymer reaction at Tokyo Institute of Technology from 2017 to 2020 and completed Ph.D. at 2020. From 2023, project manager in internal project and TRWP activity. 2024/8, moved Bridgestone Europe research center.

Melis Seren Çelenlioglu is a PhD researcher in Environmental Physics at the Milano University with a project on non-exhaust emissions (NEE) from vehicles. Her research focuses on developing new experimental approaches for the NEE collection and characterization. She has experience in both laboratory and dyno testing and she is currently involved in national and international projects dealing with NEE emissions.

Dr. Seokhwan Lee obtained his PhD at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2005. Since 2006, he has been employed at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) and investigated the contributions of traffic-related PM to atmospheric environments. He is a non-exhaust emissions expert, including brake wear, tyre wear, and road dust re-suspension, with 15 years of experience characterizing non-exhaust emissions. He specializes in characterizing non-exhaust emissions and has a passion for mitigating them.

Louisa Ospital is a PhD student at CIRAIG and Polytechnique Montréal, Canada. Her research topic focuses on the assessment of potential environmental and human health impacts of TRWPs for their incorporation as source of microplastic in the LCA framework. This project beneficiates from a collaboration with Michelin which is a member of the consortium supporting the Ciraig laboratory. It contributes with valuable data and supports modeling efforts.

David O’Loughlin is an early career toxicologist and final year PhD student at the MRC Toxicology Unit. David’s work focuses on the potential human and environmental impact of tyre wear and tyre-derived chemicals. David sits on the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Toxicology Group Committee and was a 2024 recipient of the Mary Amdur Award from the Society of Toxicology for his interdisciplinary work on air pollution.

Ludwig Schubert is a university assistant and research engineer, working at the University of Technology Graz and at AVL List GmbH. During his Bachelors he was already working on brake disc development. He achieved his MSc at the University of Technology Graz in 2022, dealing with the generation and measurement of non-exhaust emission on an indoor drum test bed. Since 2023 he is doing his PhD on tire wear and tire wear particulate emissions generated in a laboratory environment. The focus is on the development of a reproducible test bench method for the measurement of tire particulate emissions in the size range below 10 micrometers using different aerosol measurement devices.

Dr Gustafsson is a senior researcher at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI). He has a doctor’s degree in Physical Geography from Gothenburg University with a thesis on “Marine Aerosols in Southern Sweden”. His research at VTI mainly concerns transport related particulate pollution with an emphasis on non-exhaust particles, road dust and microplastics. Since 2000 he has been the project leader of a large number of research projects dealing with particle emissions, particle properties, health effects and mitigation. Research concerns road as well as railroad pollution. Since 2018, a strong focus has been microplastic pollution from road traffic, mainly tyre abrasion and tyr and road wear particle emissions, e.g. within EU-projects uCARe, LEON-T and currently NEEVE. Dr Gustafsson has also, together with colleagues at VTI, developed the sampler WDS (Wet Dust Sampler) and other innovative equipment to sample and study non-exhaust particles.

Senior Scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (IDAEA-CSIC). PhD in Natural Resources and Environment at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Spain). Amato has been research fellow at the Center for Air Resources Engineering and Sciences (NY, US) , at TNO (Utrecht, Netherlands) and more recently scholar-in-residence at KTH (Stockholm, Sweden). His research focuses on the air quality and health impact of traffic non-exhaust emissions. He has been scientific advisor for several national authorities and international organizations (WHO, OECD, US-EPA among others).