Outdoor & Yard / Products / Brake Dust Particulate Exposure (Copper, Antimony Trisulfide, Iron Oxide, Legacy Asbestos, EU Copper Ban, Cyclist/Pedestrian Exposure)

Brake Dust Particulate Exposure (Copper, Antimony Trisulfide, Iron Oxide, Legacy Asbestos, EU Copper Ban, Cyclist/Pedestrian Exposure) — outdoor safety profile

Moderate risk

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Brake wear is a major source of non-exhaust traffic-related particulate matter, contributing an estimated 16-55% of total traffic PM10 and 11-21% of traffic PM2.5 at urban roadside locations (Grigoratos & Martini, 2015).

What is this product?

Brake wear is a major source of non-exhaust traffic-related particulate matter, contributing an estimated 16-55% of total traffic PM10 and 11-21% of traffic PM2.5 at urban roadside locations (Grigoratos & Martini, 2015). Conventional semi-metallic and low-metallic brake pads contain copper (3-20% by weight), antimony trisulfide (1-5%, as lubricant), iron oxide (30-60%), and trace amounts of other metals. Copper from brake wear has been identified as the primary source of dissolved copper in urban stormwater — accounting for 35-60% of total copper loading to San Francisco Bay (SFEI study, 2015), with copper being acutely toxic to aquatic organisms at low concentrations (LC50 for rainbow trout: 14-23 ug/L). The EU adopted copper restrictions in brake pads under Regulation 2018/858: copper content must be reduced to 0.5% by weight by January 2025 (from typical levels of 3-20%). Washington state (SB 6557, 2010) and California (SB 346, 2010) enacted similar copper brake pad phase-down legislation, with the final 0.5% limit effective 2025. Asbestos, while banned in brake pads in the EU since 1999 and largely phased out in the US by the 1990s, persists in some aftermarket and imported brake pads — the EPA issued a final rule banning remaining asbestos uses including brake pads in 2024 (TSCA Sec. 6). Pedestrians and cyclists at signalized intersections experience the highest brake dust exposure, with PM2.5 concentrations 2-4x higher within 10 meters of intersection stop lines compared to mid-block locations.

What's in it

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Friction Material

Lubricant

Legacy Contaminant

Frequently asked questions

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Sources (12)

Citations carried on this product's ALETHEIA record. A bracketed number in the text links to its entry here.

  1. ALETHEIA Safety Database — expert_curation
  2. Regulation (EU) 2018/858 — Brake Pad Copper Restrictions (Regulation (EU) 2018/858, Art. 61; Directive 1999/77/EC (asbestos ban)) (2025) · EU — regulation
  3. California SB 346 + Washington SB 6557 (Better Brakes) + EPA TSCA Asbestos Ban (CA SB 346 (2010); WA SB 6557 (2010); EPA TSCA Sec. 6 Final Rule (2024)) (2025) · USA — regulation
  4. ATSDR: Toxicological Profile for Copper — Essential vs Toxic Threshold, Wilson's Disease, Lead and Copper Rule, Plumbing Leaching, and Dietary Sources (2004) — regulatory (inherited from a compound record)
  5. US EPA: Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Copper — Freshwater Criterion (Hardness-Adjusted), Marine Criterion (3.1 μg/L), Salmonid Olfactory Impairment, and Stormwater Runoff Context (2007) — regulatory (inherited from a compound record)
  6. ATSDR: Toxicological Profile for Antimony — Trivalent vs Pentavalent Toxicity, Occupational Lung Disease, IARC 2B Context, and Flame Retardant Use (2019) — regulatory (inherited from a compound record)
  7. US EPA IRIS: Antimony (III) — Oral Reference Dose, Drinking Water MCL (6 ppb), Blood Cholesterol/Glucose Endpoint, and Inhalation Reference Concentration (1992) — regulatory (inherited from a compound record)
  8. PubChem Compound CID 517277 — database (inherited from a compound record)
  9. EPA CompTox Chemicals Dashboard — DTXSID4043721 — epa (inherited from a compound record)
  10. IARC Monographs Volume 100C: Asbestos (Chrysotile, Amosite, Crocidolite, Tremolite, Actinolite, and Anthophyllite) (2012) — regulatory (inherited from a compound record)
  11. US EPA: Asbestos — Integrated Risk Information System (1987) — regulatory (inherited from a compound record)
  12. US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · USA — regulatory

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