Used tires have the potential for becoming popular in pollution control media used in stormwater applications including pervious pavement sub bases, green roof growth media, and upflow filters. Using tire crumb to decrease nutrients can minimize impacts on ecology while reducing the human footprint left by used tires. However, if tire crumb is not examined for toxicity, the ecological balance could unknowingly be disrupted. This research tested the acute toxicity of tire crumb in aquatic systems by finding the Lethal Concentration for 50% kill (LC50). Using an extreme tire crumb load, P. promelas (fathead minnow) were exposed to leachates created with tire crumb and several different types of water including distilled water, tap water, and detention pond water. For distilled and tap water, the addition of tire crumb increased the survival of P. promelas. For detention pond water, the addition of tire crumb decreased the survival of P. promelas, though only enough to find an LC50 for detention pond water influenced immediately by stormwater runoff. An LC50 was found when 100 percent tire crumb filtrate is prepared with 25 grams of tire crumb per liter of detention pond water collected directly after a storm. The LC50 found is resultant of a tire crumb load significantly higher than what can be expected in the environment. Based on this research, tire crumb is considered non-threatening to aquatic fish and safe to use with detention pond water.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-4611 |
| Date | 01 January 2008 |
| Creators | Baldassari, Trillian |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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