Climate Crisis: Another reason not to drive your car - toxic microplastic emissions

More and more people are choosing an electric car when it comes time to replace their current vehicle. It's a more environmentally friendly choice than a regular vehicle, but don't be fooled that it's a clean choice, what comes out of the tailpipe is far from the be all and end of all of the damage cars do to the environment.

So although buying an EV is a cleaner choice than a fossil fuel car, the emissions from its manufacture - in particular the battery pack - mean that it isn't exactly a clean choice. For most people keeping your current vehicle and extending its life of the one you have will massively reduce the environmental impact in the short and long term.

For every car, new or old, electric or not, there are in use emissions which should give you pause for thought.

Perhaps the most important are the microplastics which are scrubbed from car tyres as they are driven. Every time you change direction, accelerate or brake, the tyres wear away - releasing microplastics as tyre dust. These microscopic pieces are then carried by rainwater into streams and eventually the oceans.

That's bad enough, but now it seems that the preservatives used in car tyres (yes, I know, presevatives for tyres) are incredibly harmful to wildlife. A study published in Science magazine has identified the chemical 6PPD to be the cause of the die off of Coho Salmon along the coast of America. Coho are just one of a number of species of salmon endangered by pollution and climate change.

The effects go beyond Coho Salmon though. 6PPD is considered to be acutely toxic and can cause serious respiratory disorders (the suspected cause of the salmon deaths). It also an irritant when brought into contact with the skin or eyes.

Cities can create all of the low emissions zones they like, every time a car is driven through those cities tyres wear and 6PPD is released into the air people breathe.

Those particles are ending up in the oceans, in the soil and all the way through the food chain - something we sit on top of. So it ends up in our bodies one way or another.

So, the right answer is not to buy that new car, keep the one you've got, park it in the garage and ensure that you only use it when there are really no alternatives. In the meantime, governments need to remove the biggest and heaviest private cars from the roads, not only are they fuel efficient, but their particulate emissions are higher too.