Attempts to reduce cars tiring out

By Paul Hudson for CNN

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(CNN) -- Concerns over air quality usually center on pollution, so it comes as some surprise to discover a group warning that the air that we breathe might not be good enough for our car tires.

Standard service station airlines fill our tires with compressed air which contains water vapor, and can lead, over time, to corrosion within the tire.

Furthermore, due to the size of oxygen molecules, air leaches out of the tire wall leading to a drop in tire pressure, up to 2psi in one month.

TyreSafe, a non-commercial organization set up to promote tire safety and raise awareness of the dangers of driving on defective or badly worn tires, suggests taking a lead from motor racing teams by using nitrogen instead of compressed air.

The benefits of nitrogen are that it slows the rate of pressure loss and, by reducing the tire's running temperature, it also increases tire life.

Nitrogen provides a more stable pressure range in relation to tire temperature, which affects how quickly it wears.

It is for this reason that nitrogen is widely used in motorsport, notably Formula 1, in which tire temperatures often reach 100 degrees Centigrade and require consistent pressure.

According to the latest figures from the UK's Department for Transport (DfT), more than a third of all road crashes resulting in injury are as a result of under-inflated or defective tires.

TyreSafe research indicates that 12 per cent of cars and light vans on UK roads have at least one tire below the legal minimum tread depth of 1.6mm.

Aside from the safety implications, TyreSafe also estimates that using nitrogen can increase tire life by up to 25 per cent, lower fuel consumption by 5 per cent and also reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

An increasing number of service stations will now replace the air in your tires with nitrogen, although once the change is made you must keep topping up with the same gas.

However, drivers should still check their tires regularly, not just for pressure but also tread depth and general condition.

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