Release of PAH from Secondary Products Made from End-of-Life Tire Recyclates into 20% Aqueous Ethanol as Assessment of Human Dermal Absorption

Abstract

Compliance with the legal limits set at the European level for the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which are harmful to human health and the environment, is of central importance for the recycling of rubber, particularly end-of-life tires (ELT), into secondary products, e.g., elastic fall protection mats or anti-slip mats for the transport sector. However, different regulations associated with different analytical methods apply to newly produced tires on the one hand and secondary products made from ELT on the other. Given these discrepancies, ELT can potentially contain levels of PAH, which can be problematic when reused in consumer products. The total PAH content, however, is not without doubt a reliable risk indicator, which should ultimately be based primarily on the transfer of the substances from the product into the skin of human beings or their release into the environment. Accordingly, additional studies are required to determine the extent to which migration-based measurements are more suitable for risk assessment and how the PAH content correlates with migration. Complementing the recently published results of PAH content in different types of ELT, this study investigates the release of PAH for a range of typical secondary materials composed entirely or partly of ELT. In the present study, migration tests with 20% aqueous ethanol were applied, a methodology that has been shown in previous investigations by others to reflect human skin exposure well, and the resulting migration rates of PAH are determined.