Canada has passed legislation to ban the manufacture and import of lead wheel weights—the most sweeping lead ban since Parliament prohibited the retail sale of leaded gasoline in the country in 1990.
In a news release on Feb. 16, the Department of Environment said an estimated 110 tonnes of lead from wheel weights fall off tire rims and are released into the environment along Canadian roads every year.
“Wheel weights are installed on the wheels of vehicles to even out the weight distribution around the rim and stabilize vehicles at high speeds. Lead wheel weights routinely fall off and can turn into dust over time. This dust is harmful as it can build up in soil, enter waterways through runoffs, or be inhaled,” the news release said….