Environmental Impact Assessment of Constituents’ Nanomaterials in Automobile Tires: A Conceptual Framework

Nanomaterials have often been considered as matters with dimensions in the region of 1 to 100 nanometers in all directions, having unique properties for novel and diverse applications. Due to their sheer size, they possess physical, chemical, and biological properties, which differ in fundamental and valuable ways from the properties of individual atoms and molecules or bulk matter. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for environmental impact assessment of constituents’ nanomaterials in automobile tires (EXACT) based on an overview review of the existing literature. The conceptual framework comprises five assessment factors, namely, 1. Identify nanomaterials (NM) in automobile tires during the manufacturing process. Characterization of nanomaterials properties, 3. Predictive tire model, 4. Tire testing, 5. Atmosphere, Integrated Environmental Predictive Model. It is envisaged that this theoretical model provides a useful tool for industry practitioners in developing a more comprehensive overall environmental impact assessment (EIA) strategy.