Results of the examination of disc brake friction pairs with conventional and ceramic brake pads have been presented. The friction pairs were examined in respect of the wear of their elements as well as the dust emission related to the friction pair wear. The empirical tests were carried out on  a test stand designed for the testing of friction characteristics of brake linings and brake pads. The immission4 of specific size fractions of the particulate matter was measured with the use of a dust monitor. Moreover, friction surface temperature was measured with the use of a camera. The tests were carried out in three series (one series run during the bedding-in process and two series of tests run on the pairs having been bedded-in), with the test cycles consisting of intermittent braking, where the interruptions were controlled by various factors, e.g. the friction surface temperature. The wear of the friction pair with ceramic brake pads was found to be lower than that of the pair with conventional pads and the relative difference was almost 40 % and somewhat more than 25 % when defined by the friction pair thickness and mass, respectively. In the dust dispersed in the ambient air in the measuring room, the PM1 particulate matter fraction (of the equivalent particle size being below 1 μm) was found to predominate. The particulate matter immission was found to be much lower (by about 50 %) for the ceramic pads compared with the conventional pads. The temperature of the friction pair was not considerably affected by the type of the brake pads used. In general terms, it was ascertained that the use of ceramic pads resulted in a measurable improvement in the tribological properties of the disc brake friction pair.