Citation

Burghardt TE, Pashkevich A. Transp. Res. D Trans. Environ. 2023; 119: e103740.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.trd.2023.103740

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Microplastic pollution became one of the most researched current environmental topics. Road markings are often listed amongst important microplastic pollution sources, but there is no consensus related to the quantity of such emissions, with estimates varying by more than order of magnitude. Reports of positive identification remain very sparse. Search of scientific databases for "road marking" AND "microplastic" identified 198 peer-reviewed articles using these terms; additionally, 27 'grey literature' reports, mostly with emissions estimates were found. Amongst all of them, unequivocal positive assignment was reported only 12 times. Critical assessment revealed that many publications contained major errors. In this review numerous mistaken assumptions are pointed out from the perspective of industrial and academic professionals working with road markings. For clarification, road markings are concisely described and their service life, with the distinction into functional and physical end-of-life, is explained and illustrated.

Language: en

Keywords

Abrasion; Glass beads; Renewal; Retroreflectivity; Service life