Increasing urbanisation and road traffic have intensified pressures on urban aquatic ecosystems, contributing to the release of emerging contaminants, including tyre-derived additives, which remain poorly studied and regulated. These compounds, released into the environment through urban and road runoff, represent a growing threat to aquatic biodiversity and potentially to human health. Despite their widespread occurrence, their ecological impacts remain poorly understood.
The TRAFFIq project aims to monitor and quantify levels of key tire-derived additives in Portuguese urban aquatic ecosystems and road runoff, and to assess the ecological impacts of these additives in urban aquatic ecosystems by integrating environmental monitoring and ecotoxicological assays across multiple urban stressor scenarios. The project will also investigate how these pollutants affect ecosystem functioning and explore the potential of these compounds as indicators of road runoff pollution, contributing to improved environmental risk assessment and management. TRAFFIq results will support European environmental policies, such as the Water Framework Directive and the Zero Pollution Action Plan, promoting sustainable solutions for urban pollution management and biodiversity protection.
