Well, 21% of the air in the tire is not a negligible amount. It
would take one heck of a lot of oxidation to use all that
up. hydronic heating systems are another story. The amount of
oxygen dissolved in the water is much less. Your theory could easily
be tested. All one would have to do is take a sample of tire air and
test it for oxygen percentage. As I don't know how to do that, I bet
that if you fill a closed vessel with air from a tire, you would be
able to support combustion in it. As for the outside of the tire,
yes, it will still be subject to oxidation. But there I get to put
whatever magic potions I wish to try to preserve it, and when rot and
cracking start to appear, I know it's time to change the tire. The
greater danger is when the outside still looks OK and the inside has
become dangerously damaged.
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