Budd–Michelin rubber-tired rail cars which featured innovative and distinctive pneumatic tires. The company claimed that its application of tires on its rail cars afforded both a substantially more cushioned ride and increased the cars' traction by 35%. The design of Michelin's tired wheels included an aluminum safety ring and a flange that were only used in the event of a puncture or other type of tire failure; during normal operation, only the rubber tire made contact with the rail. Inspired by Michelin's success, the Budd Company set its sights on marrying the new rubber rail tires with its shot-welded, stainless-steel carbodies; it had developed
Crumb rubber and other chemicals with dermal and endocrine disrupting impacts. Crumb rubber is used as a filling in artificial turf fields. In 2007, use in this capacity prevented about 300 million pounds of rubber from polluting landfills. Generally, it takes 20,000–40,000 scrap tires to produce enough filling to cover an average football field (City of Portland, 2008) The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection found in a 2010 study that stormwater passing through crumb rubber regularly exceeded aquatic acute toxicity for zinc. Additionally, copper, barium, manganese and aluminum were found at elevated levels after stormwater contacted the materials. Semi-volatile organic compounds and