PubMed · 2026-04-22
A chemical released from degrading car tires — 6PPD-quinone — causes wheat plants to mount stress responses, rewire their metabolism, and disrupts the beneficial microbes living around their roots. As tire particles accumulate in agricultural and roadside soils, this finding raises concerns about food crop health near roads and urban areas.
6PPD-quinone triggered measurable oxidative stress in wheat, forcing plants to deploy cellular defenses against chemical damage
Wheat plants underwent metabolic reprogramming in response to exposure, indicating the compound disrupts core biochemical pathways
The rhizosphere microbiota — the community of soil microbes around wheat roots critical for nutrient uptake — shifted significantly under 6PPD-quinone exposure
