Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons – or PAHs for short – are a group of chemicals which occur naturally in coal, crude oil and petrol. In the production of new tyres, they are added as plasticizers.
Eight specific PAHs commonly used for the manufacture of tyres have been identified as posing a potential health risk in high concentrations.
As early as in 2010, the EU REACH regulation consequently introduced a limit of 10 mg/kg as the maximum content for the sum of these 8 PAHs – to apply to all new tyres placed on the EU market, be they manufactured in Europe or imported from overseas.
Since then, there has been an ongoing discussion about the content of these 8 PAH substances in rubber from end-of-life tyres.