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Thread: America's Northwest Silver salmon/Coho population is being poisoned.

  1. #1
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    Default America's Northwest Silver salmon/Coho population is being poisoned.

    Scientists solve mystery of mass coho salmon deaths. The killer? A chemical from car tires

    Researchers found a chemical related to vehicle tires that is responsible for killing more than half the coho salmon in Puget Sound each year.

    When officials in Seattle spent millions of dollars restoring the creeks along Puget Sound — tending to the vegetation, making the stream beds less muddy, building better homes for fish — they were thrilled to see coho salmon reappear.

    But when it rained, more than half, sometimes all, of the coho in a creek would suffer a sudden death.

    These mysterious die-offs — an alarming phenomenon that has been reported from Northern California to British Columbia — have stumped biologists and toxicologists for decades. Numerous tests ruled out pesticides, disease and other possible causes, such as hot temperatures and low dissolved oxygen.

    Now, after 20 years of investigation, researchers in Washington state, San Francisco and Los Angeles say they have found the culprit: a very poisonous yet little-known chemical related to a preservative used in car tires.

    The chemical is just one of a vast number of contaminants that washes off roads whenever it rains. This giant soup of pollutants, which includes trillions of microplastics, rushes down drains and into creeks and ultimately into the sea.

    "We pretty much figured out that anywhere there's a road and people are driving their car, little bits of tire end up coming off your tire and end up in the stormwater that flows off that road," said Ed Kolodziej, an environmental engineer and chemist at the University of Washington (Tacoma/Seattle), whose lab led a study that was published Thursday in the journal Science. "We were able to get all the way down to this one highly toxic chemical — something that kills large fish quickly and we think is probably found on every single busy road in the world."

    Coho salmon, also known as silver salmon, are prized among fishermen and an important indicator species — the canary in the coal mine for coastal watersheds along the northern Pacific Ocean. Their range has historically stretched from the creeks nestled in the redwood forests near Santa Cruz all the way north to the waters of Alaska. The few coho populations that still exist in California are either endangered or threatened.

    The fish are born in freshwater streams, where they stay for about a year before making the long journey through rivers and estuaries and into the ocean. They return a year and a half later to lay and fertilize eggs before dying. Many obstacles have made this journey across different environments more difficult: Shrinking estuaries, blocked passages from dams and culverts, as well as drought and a changing climate.

    Science

    Drought blocking passages to sea for California coho salmon

    "While we often monitor temperature and dissolved oxygen levels, much more could be done to test for toxicity," said Mariska Obedzinski, a California Sea Grant fisheries biologist who leads monitoring and salmon recovery research on the Russian River and was shocked to see the findings out of Puget Sound.

    "With so many chemicals out there," she said, "it is overwhelming to know what to test for, so the results of this study will help us home in on testing for a chemical that we now know causes acute mortality."

    Peter Moyle, a longtime salmon expert and emeritus professor at UC Davis, recalled the four small streams in San Francisco Bay that once had coho. He has been following the Puget Sound research, which he is also not affiliated with, and now wonders whether all the roads and major freeways that crossed these creeks contributed to their disappearance decades ago, despite all the restoration efforts.

    "The challenge when you talk about declines of really sensitive fish like coho salmon, is that there are so many things that are affecting them simultaneously, it’s hard to pinpoint one," he said. "That's why it's so interesting that in these Puget Sound streams, they found this one chemical that seems to be the smoking gun."

    The scientists in Washington state spent years studying dozens of streams — looking for patterns and comparing samples from pristine creeks, to those in more urban areas. They narrowed the culprit down to stormwater, then to creeks that were near busier roads, and finally to the wear and tear of car tires.

    Researchers then soaked tire bits in room temperature water for about 24 hours. As many as 1,500 to 2,800 chemicals would leach out and, using high-resolution mass spectrometry, the team methodically identified and analyzed these compounds.

    They tried sectioning this tire cocktail into different chemical properties, such as removing all metals from the solution. Then they tested these different sub-mixtures to see which ones were still toxic to the salmon. They repeated this process until only a few chemicals were left — including one mysterious speck of purple that they knew very little about.

    "We knew that the chemical that we thought was toxic had 18 carbons, 22 hydrogens, two nitrogens and two oxygens. And we kept trying to figure out what it was," said Zhenyu Tian, the study’s lead author and a research scientist at the Center for Urban Waters at University of Washington Tacoma. "Then one day in December, it was just like bing! in my mind. The killer chemical might not be a chemical directly added to the tire, but something related."

    The smoking gun turned out to be related to a chemical called 6PPD, which is essentially a preservative to keep car tires from breaking down too quickly. When 6PPD hits the road and reacts with ozone gas, the chemical transforms into multiple new chemicals, including a compound known as 6PPD-quinone.

    Not much is known about 6PPD-quinone, but it does appear to be very toxic (at about 1 microgram per liter) and does not degrade as quickly as 6PPD.

    It remains unclear how exactly this chemical kills coho salmon, but it may be doing something to the lining of the salmon’s vascular system, said Jen McIntyre, an aquatic ecotoxicologist at Washington State University who has been studying this mystery for more than 15 years.

    Once coho are exposed to 6PPD-quinone, they begin to breathe erratically — almost like they’re gasping for air. They lose equilibrium and start spiraling in circles, unable to stay upright in the water. Eventually they drop to the bottom, where they stop moving and die.

    McIntyre has begun testing this toxin on five other Pacific salmon species, which have shown different levels of sensitivity. She’s also curious how 6PPD-quinone might affect other organisms, and more studies need to be conducted to understand whether this chemical has any impact on humans.

    Worrisome concentrations of 6PPD-quinone were also confirmed in samples from L.A. and San Francisco. Rebecca Sutton, a study co-author who specializes in emerging contaminants, had reached out to the researchers in Puget Sound after coming across a number of tire rubber chemicals in her studies of San Francisco Bay.

    These discoveries fit into a growing body of science that illuminates how driving is not just an air pollution and climate change problem, she said. In a separate study last year, Sutton was surprised to find that tire particles were by far the largest source of microplastics in the bay.

    Tires containing zinc have also been known to harm wildlife, said Sutton, who works for the San Francisco Estuary Institute, an independent science think tank. "We also know that steelhead trout and Chinook salmon exhibit some sensitivity to tire rubber chemicals."

    California

    It just rained (again). Is it safe to swim in the ocean?

    Across California, water quality regulators, state transportation officials and federal scientists have been learning about these startling connections between stormwater and coho deaths during recent meetings and conferences. The state's coastal highway, some pointed out, crosses numerous streams and estuaries.

    "Now that they've gotten it nailed down to one compound — that's amazing. It's also really helpful that something could be done about it," said Joe Dillon, who specializes in water quality and toxicology for NOAA Fisheries. "This means the tire industry can work on figuring out how to replace that compound with something less toxic. It means they can be pushed by the state of California or by nongovernmental organizations to undertake that work."

    Matt St. John, executive officer of California’s Regional Water Quality Control Board on the north coast, home to most of the remaining coho salmon in California, said he’d like to start monitoring for this chemical in creeks to determine what further action is needed.

    "The study is definitely an eyebrow-raiser," he said. "When you find a causal link like this that is controllable, we need to take this type of information seriously."

    _______________________________


    OR, WA, BC and Alaska have had failing Silver salmon runs forever.

    Most was due to logging and dams but now they have discovered that they are being poisoned.
    ________________________________

    California use to have wild Silver Salmon populations in many of our short coastal rivers years ago.

    For about 20 years we have been trying to get them going again with little success.

    Today we have hatchery runs on the Klamath and Trinity rivers.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  2. #2
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    That is some good investigative work there.

  3. #3
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    There are a lot of storm drains across Northern CA that have a simple message spray painted along side....... "flows to ocean". Of course, before the storm water reaches said ocean, it travels through a number of waterways that also have signs that read, "Salmon Habitat".

    It's so obvious our natural resources are in free fall decline due to 40+ million people, so it would be nice if this research makes it through clinical trials, then applied to help the fish!

  4. #4
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    Thumbs down

    I owned a Big O Tire store for almost 30 years before retiring. We always used to talk about getting rid of tire casings once they were worn out. Whoever could come up with an economical way of disposing of tire casings would become an instant millionaire.

    It was always known that tires don't biodegrade so what do they do with them? They chop them up into little pieces and mix those pieces into the asphalt to act as a filler and PAVE the roads and highways with it. Seemed like a good thing to do with something that doesn't biodegrade. Now its come back to bite us in the ass with this new finding.

    So, what's the next problem now? Tear out all the roads that have ground tires in the asphalt? Impossible! It would require some sort of coating to be sprayed and sealed on every road next to where salmon reside. The other thought would be to rip out every asphalt road like this and replace them with concrete roads and highways throughout the the Northwest.

    Getting rid of tires has always been a problem with no cheap answer or a solution. Burying them in giant landfills seems to be the most common practice used today and that leads to other greater problems in polluting the soil.

    What's the answer, or is there an answer?
    Tony
    Last edited by Tony Buzolich; 12-05-2020 at 08:36 AM.
    TONY BUZOLICH
    Feather River Fly
    Yuba City, CA.
    (530) 790-7180

  5. #5
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    We have met the enemy and he is us. What a surprise.

  6. #6
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    If the Environmentalists can work with the Federal Government to get rid of this chemical ingredient in our tires it would be wonderful.

    There used to be Silvers/Cohos in many streams from California to Alaska.

    Seems like they have been working on the Silver salmon restoration for the past 20 years with little success.


    They have been working in the Northeast to bring back the Atlantic salmon rivers but they does not seem to be going well either.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  7. #7
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    Man screwing up mother nature again. Great work by these biologists, this is going to be a tough one to overcome. Storm drain filtration$$$$$.
    Last edited by Mark Kranhold; 12-05-2020 at 11:58 AM.

  8. #8
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    Seems like the answer is we need to stop putting 6PPD in tires. We can’t do much about what is already out there but we can stop adding more. We stopped using DDT so we should be able to stop this. Unfortunately the playbook for the tire industry will be to claim there is not enough evidence. They will find plenty of lawmakers willing to agree with them and after 20 years of foot dragging we will still be adding PPD to the system. Or we could find a better way to make tires and just get this done.

    I heard someone say we don’t need to save the planet, we need to save the human race. The planet will be just fine after we are gone.

    Despite all the bad environmental news I am optimistic.
    Last edited by John H; 12-05-2020 at 03:38 PM.

  9. #9
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    I believe tires are also being "chopped up" and turned into the filler that is spread about on the new synthetic athletic fields. For those that have "played" on the surface and especially those that do the follow up laundry, you know those little rubber pellets end up everywhere!

    Yeah, maybe all that can be done is remove the 6PPD, but first, a substitute must be found for it, I suppose. Or, live with the tire without 6PPD and accept less tire life expectancy. I am willing to accept that for the sake of our natural resources. I believe there can be a balance achieved between humans and the planet...... seems as though humans are feeling more and more entitled to much of the "pie" and there is little balance of late. i.g., Delta Smelt, et.al.

  10. #10
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    I heard that one of the big problems for our Delta fish was poorly treated sewage affluence in the Sacramento river, Delta and Bays.

    Maybe 15 to 20 years ago they reported that all our sewage treatment facilities were not modern enough to properly treat our sewage.

    I think the powers to be decided that it was too expensive to upgrade all those sewage plants?
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

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