28. June 2023
In the consortium project “Detection of microplastic emissions from road markings”, the CBI, together with Dow, Röhm, and Swarco, is developing an analytical method for detecting microplastic emissions from road markings, which will subsequently be tested and applied by the project participants. Scientific expertise for the project is provided by the Institutes of Environmental Engineering and Highway Engineering at RWTH Aachen University.
Project description:
Road markings, along with vehicle restraint systems, traffic lights and many other road facilities, are an important part of the road equipment and serve to ensure safe traffic guidance.
Road markings basically consist of a layer of road marking material (e.g., Thermoplastic, Coldplastic, Coldsprayplastics, High-Solid-Paint, Water based Paint) and a layer of drop on material (consisting of glass beads and antiskid material) spread on the top of it. While the layer of road marking material ensures the visibility of the road marking during the day, the glass beads are augmenting visibility at night through reflecting incoming light and thus making road markings more visible. In addition, the drop on material protect the road marking layer from abrasion. Because abrasion cannot be completely avoided, the polymers contained in the road marking layer (proportion approx. 10 to 40 %) can become detached and scattered. There are sources that claim that even about 2.3 to 7.0 % of total microplastic emissions are due to road markings. Calculations based on field observations show that the actual amount of microplastics is only a fraction of that.
In this consortium project, a mechanical test procedure and an analytical test method for the detection of microplastic emissions from road markings are being developed together with the consortium partners.
This project was successfully completed.
