The sight of scrap tires sitting in a pile of vacant lots and backyard seems harmless, and people are more content leaving them where they are even when the community can look cleaner without them. This is because tires are heavy and difficult to move. But without proper disposal at a waste recycling facility, these scrap tires can be a problem for the population.

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Waste Tires as Health Risk

Tires don’t decompose, so burying them won’t. In fact, it can be a problem when it crumbles and position the soil and water where they are sitting. Their hollow rings are a risk for the accumulation of many health hazards. This means that having tire waste around can have a negative impact on the health of everyone.

Rodents

Waste Tires Attract Mice and Rats

The hollowed interiors of waste tires serve as an ideal shelter for rodents, and it provides warmth and protection against the cold environment and their predators.

Rodents’ Negative Effect On Local Heath

Other than being a notorious property destroyer, rodents are carriers of many diseases, specifically ones that can be transmitted from animals to humans. The most well-known zoonotic disease recorded is the bubonic plague, passed by fleas around the world through the backs of mice and rats. In the modern world, the common zoonotic illnesses linked to contact with rodents are hantavirus, salmonella, and Weil’s disease. You don’t need direct contact with a rodent to be infected with a zoonotic disease; exposure to their urine and feces is enough. Proper disposal of waste tires can lower the population of rodents in your area and minimizes infections.

Mosquitos

Mosquitos Striving Among Waste Tires

The design of the tires is made for safe and efficient road travel. But when left in landfills, they become a health hazard by housing mosquitos carrying vector-borne diseases. The stagnant pool of water inside the tires is the best place for mosquitoes to lay their eggs and eventually becomes a breeding ground for hundreds of mosquitos.

Mosquitos’ Effect On Local Health

The diseases carried by mosquitoes are largely seen in many undeveloped countries, and it causes millions of deaths each year. Dealing with discarded tires can lessen the mosquito problem to minimize the threat of these diseases.

Toxins

Waste Tire Toxins

A study published by an environmental science journal revealed the effect of toxins from tires on marine environments. The toxic chemicals such as heavy metals, phthalates, and thiazoles found in waste tires are incredibly harmful to animals and plants.

The Effect of Waste Tire Toxins On Local Health

Crumbling tires release chemicals, most of which are carcinogens that pose a risk to human health and the environment. Individuals exposed to these chemicals can develop and suffer from kidney failure and gastrointestinal ailments. It can also poison waterways, making them unavailable to fish, birds, and plant ecosystems.

The Solution is Tire Recycling

These health and environmental risks led the government to pass waste tire disposal regulations. It banned tires from most landfills and should be directed to tire recycling plants. It decreases the number of diseases linked to these waste tires. This also opened opportunities for tire recycling businesses to open as more people look for ways to get rid of their old tires. Repurposing toxic rubbers through tire recycling gives these waste tires a second life, improving the environmental and community health for everyone.

How Tire Recycling Improves Local Health