<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><head><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><o:OfficeDocumentSettings><o:AllowPNG/><o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch></o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--></head><body><div class="yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-03/coho-salmon-tire-chemical" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="">https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-03/coho-salmon-tire-chemical</a></div><div><br></div><div><font size="5">Scientists solve mystery of mass coho salmon deaths. The killer? A chemical from car tires</font></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><div><div class="ydp80ef9074page-wrapper" style="margin-top: 40px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074page-main-content" style="width: 669px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074page-lead-media" style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><img src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/af5ddee/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6720x4480+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9a%2Fc3%2F08099f1c4c30a5081cbf0abaee28%2Fcoho-and-tires004.JPG" alt="From left, researchers Jen McIntyre, Edward Kolodziej and Zhenyu Tian " style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; width: 100%; margin-bottom: 10px; background-repeat: no-repeat;" class=""><div class="ydp80ef9074figure-content" style="font-family: arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 500; font-style: normal; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074figure-caption" style="display: inline; background-repeat: no-repeat;">From left, researchers Jen McIntyre, Edward Kolodziej and Zhenyu Tian study the stormwater impacts on coho salmon in Longfellow Creek in the Seattle area.</div><div class="ydp80ef9074figure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">(Mark Stone / University of Washington)</div></div></div><div class="ydp80ef9074byline" style="margin-bottom: 20px; max-width: 680px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074authors" style="width: auto; margin-bottom: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; margin-right: 10px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074author-name" style="font-family: arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 500; font-style: normal; display: inline; text-transform: uppercase; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span class="ydp80ef9074byline-prefix" style="text-transform: none; background-repeat: no-repeat;">By </span><a href="https://www.latimes.com/people/rosanna-xia" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat;">ROSANNA XIA</span></a><span class="ydp80ef9074author-title" style="font-family: arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 500; font-style: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 4px; display: inline; background-repeat: no-repeat;">STAFF WRITER </span></div></div><div class="ydp80ef9074published-day" style="display: inline; white-space: nowrap; background-repeat: no-repeat;">DEC. 3, 2020</div><div class="ydp80ef9074published-time" style="margin-right: 5px; display: inline; white-space: nowrap; margin-left: 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">11 AM</div></div><div class="ydp80ef9074page-article-container" style="max-width: 680px; margin: 0px auto; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074page-article-body" style="background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074rich-text-article-body" style="background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074rich-text-article-body-content ydp80ef9074rich-text-body" style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 30px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">But when it rained, more than half, sometimes all, of the coho in a creek would suffer a sudden death.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">These mysterious die-offs — an alarming<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://fws.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=5dd4a36a2a5148a28376a0b81726a9a4" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">phenomenon<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span></a>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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">The chemical is just one of a vast number of contaminants that washes off roads<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-27/ocean-swimming-after-rain-q-and-a" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">whenever it rains</a>. This giant soup of pollutants, which includes<a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-10-02/california-microplastics-ocean-study" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span>trillions of microplastics</a>, rushes down drains and into creeks and ultimately into the sea.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">“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<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://science.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.abd6951" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a study</a><span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span>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.”</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-30-me-coho30-story.html" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">historically<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span></a>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<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Fishes/Coho-Salmon" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">still exist in California</a><span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span>are either endangered or threatened.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.<b style="font-weight: bolder; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>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.</p><div id="ydp80ef9074nativo_1" style="background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074ntv-moap ydp80ef9074ntv1066256-414016-87472 ydp80ef9074noskim" id="ydp80ef9074ntv1066256-414016-87472" style="width: 669px; background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); position: relative; border-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; padding: 5px; margin: 20px 0px; display: table; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074ntv-img" style="width: 250px; vertical-align: middle; display: table-cell; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/paid-posts/?prx_t=QFEGAKARJAEEUQA&prx_ro=s&ntv_fr" title="The Wanderlust Wish List: A Gift Guide." style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="The Wanderlust Wish List: A Gift Guide." class="ydp80ef9074ntv-image-wrapper" src="https://ntvcld-a.akamaihd.net/image/upload/w_600,h_338,c_fill,g_auto:text,f_auto/assets/58CC2C8E323248AEA91BBB69F6C654C7.jpg" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" data-id="1607051173279"></a></div><div class="ydp80ef9074ntv-entry" style="vertical-align: middle; display: table-cell; padding-left: 15px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074ntv-disclaimer" style="text-transform: uppercase; padding: 5px 5px 4px; background-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/paid-posts/?prx_t=QFEGAKARJAEEUQA&prx_ro=s&ntv_fr" title="The Wanderlust Wish List: A Gift Guide." style="background-color: transparent; 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color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TUMI</a></div><p style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px !important; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Wherever they are going, you’re sure to find something for the traveler in your life this holiday season with the TUMI Wanderlust Wish List.</p></div><div class="ydp80ef9074enhancement" data-align-center="" style="width: 669px; clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074promo-wrapper" style="background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074promo-media" style="position: relative; margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; width: 110px; max-width: 110px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://www.latimes.com/science/la-xpm-2014-feb-09-la-me-salmon-drought-20140210-story.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; display: block; position: relative; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img class="ydp80ef9074image" alt="On the banks of Big Creek, a tributary of Scott Creek a few miles from the coast near Santa Cruz, some 41,000 coho salmon just over a year old are being raised for release this spring at a conservation hatchery operated by the nonprofit Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project." data-src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/80244f7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1990x1327+5+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F59%2F80%2Fa0852e46dc79beccc29ea7fc94c0%2Fla-xpm-photo-2014-feb-09-la-me-salmon-drought-20140210" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/80244f7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1990x1327+5+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F59%2F80%2Fa0852e46dc79beccc29ea7fc94c0%2Fla-xpm-photo-2014-feb-09-la-me-salmon-drought-20140210" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; width: 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true"></a></div><div class="ydp80ef9074promo-content" style="background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074promo-title-container" style="background-repeat: no-repeat;"><p class="ydp80ef9074promo-category" style="font-family: arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-transform: uppercase; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://www.latimes.com/science" style="background-color: transparent; color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SCIENCE</a></p><p class="ydp80ef9074promo-title" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-family: "times new roman", times, serif; font-weight: 600; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://www.latimes.com/science/la-xpm-2014-feb-09-la-me-salmon-drought-20140210-story.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Drought blocking passages to sea for California coho salmon</a></p></div><p class="ydp80ef9074promo-timestamp" data-date="Feb. 9, 2014" data-shouldshowdate="true" data-shouldshowtime="true" data-timestamp="1391932800000" data-show-timestamp="true" style="font-family: arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; display: block; margin: 0px; text-transform: none; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Feb. 9, 2014</p></div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">“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<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://caseagrant.ucsd.edu/project/coho-salmon-monitoring" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">monitoring and salmon recovery research</a><span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span>on the Russian River and was shocked to see the findings out of Puget Sound.<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">“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.”</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">“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.”</p><div class="ydp80ef9074enhancement" data-align-center="" style="width: 669px; clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><img data-src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d396e02/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1327+0+0/resize/840x557!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F12%2Fe1%2F7e63a09dfae1ea0b9d897044912a%2Fla-1765020-me-0205-salmon-22-rcg-jpg-20140209" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d396e02/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1327+0+0/resize/840x557!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F12%2Fe1%2F7e63a09dfae1ea0b9d897044912a%2Fla-1765020-me-0205-salmon-22-rcg-jpg-20140209" alt="Conservation hatcheries in California have been raising tens of thousands of coho salmon to release into creeks." style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; width: 100%; margin-bottom: 10px; background-repeat: no-repeat;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class=""><div class="ydp80ef9074figure-content" style="font-family: arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 500; font-style: normal; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074figure-caption" style="display: inline; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Conservation hatcheries in California have been raising tens of thousands of coho salmon to release into creeks.</div><div class="ydp80ef9074figure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)</div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eap.1615" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">creeks that were near busier roads</a>, and finally to the wear and tear of car tires.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">“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.”</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><div class="ydp80ef9074enhancement" data-align-center="" style="width: 669px; clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><img data-src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/42db3cb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6720x4480+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbd%2F23%2F5e24f88a446a9ee053b575339340%2Fcoho-and-tires006.JPG" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/42db3cb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6720x4480+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbd%2F23%2F5e24f88a446a9ee053b575339340%2Fcoho-and-tires006.JPG" alt="A car tire drives past a storm drain." style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; width: 100%; margin-bottom: 10px; background-repeat: no-repeat;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" class=""><div class="ydp80ef9074figure-content" style="font-family: arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 500; font-style: normal; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074figure-caption" style="display: inline; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Car tire particles wash into creeks and storm drains, contaminating the water with a chemical that scientists discovered is highly toxic to coho salmon.</div><div class="ydp80ef9074figure-credit" style="display: inline; margin-left: 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">(Mark Stone / University of Washington)</div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-10-02/california-microplastics-ocean-study" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">by far the largest source of microplastics</a><span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span>in the bay.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Tires<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://calsafer.dtsc.ca.gov/workflows/productchemicalpetition/11589/#supportingdocsection" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">containing zinc<span class="ydp80ef9074Apple-converted-space"> </span></a>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.”</p><div class="ydp80ef9074enhancement" data-align-center="" style="width: 669px; clear: both; margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074promo-wrapper" style="background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074promo-media" style="position: relative; margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; width: 110px; max-width: 110px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-27/ocean-swimming-after-rain-q-and-a" style="background-color: transparent; color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; display: block; position: relative; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img class="ydp80ef9074image" alt="Last week's storms left Southland beaches littered with trash. "It's gross...the water was really murky," said Kelsey Widman, background, who braved the piles of refuse to catch some choice waves at Seal Beach." data-src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3dad3d1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/590x393+5+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffc%2F30%2Fbea10d9ab4a9cb81e2fe7e660a82%2Flat-me-beach-deb-kwry6nc20100124162224" src="https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3dad3d1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/590x393+5+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffc%2F30%2Fbea10d9ab4a9cb81e2fe7e660a82%2Flat-me-beach-deb-kwry6nc20100124162224" style="vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; display: block; max-width: 800px; width: 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true"></a></div><div class="ydp80ef9074promo-content" style="background-repeat: no-repeat;"><div class="ydp80ef9074promo-title-container" style="background-repeat: no-repeat;"><p class="ydp80ef9074promo-category" style="font-family: arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-transform: uppercase; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><a class="ydp80ef9074link" href="https://www.latimes.com/california" style="background-color: transparent; color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CALIFORNIA</a></p><p class="ydp80ef9074promo-title" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-family: "times new roman", times, serif; font-weight: 600; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><a class="ydp80ef9074link enhancr_card_7517630026" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-27/ocean-swimming-after-rain-q-and-a" style="background-color: transparent; color: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; background-repeat: no-repeat;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">It just rained (again). Is it safe to swim in the ocean?</a></p><div><br></div><div id="ydpbbb32ee7enhancr_card_7517630026" class="ydpbbb32ee7yahoo-link-enhancr-card ydpbbb32ee7ymail-preserve-class ydpbbb32ee7ymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-27/ocean-swimming-after-rain-q-and-a" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-27/ocean-swimming-after-rain-q-and-a" style="text-decoration-line: none !important; text-decoration-style: solid !important; text-decoration-color: currentcolor !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;" class="ydpbbb32ee7yahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table class="ydpbbb32ee7card-wrapper ydpbbb32ee7yahoo-ignore-table" style="max-width:400px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table class="ydpbbb32ee7card ydpbbb32ee7yahoo-ignore-table" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpbbb32ee7card-primary-image-cell" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: cover; position: relative; border-radius: 2px 2px 0px 0px; min-height: 175px;" valign="top" height="175" bgcolor="#000000" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/OHOiJe3FXcQ7kBBdQQtdLw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ebf4a89/2147483647/strip/true/crop/600x315+0+39/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffc%2F30%2Fbea10d9ab4a9cb81e2fe7e660a82%2Flat-me-beach-deb-kwry6nc20100124162224.cf.jpg"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;"><v:fill type="frame" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/OHOiJe3FXcQ7kBBdQQtdLw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ebf4a89/2147483647/strip/true/crop/600x315+0+39/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffc%2F30%2Fbea10d9ab4a9cb81e2fe7e660a82%2Flat-me-beach-deb-kwry6nc20100124162224.cf.jpg"/></v:rect><![endif]--><table class="ydpbbb32ee7card-overlay-container-table ydpbbb32ee7yahoo-ignore-table" style="width:100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpbbb32ee7card-overlay-cell" style="background-color: transparent; border-radius: 2px 2px 0px 0px; min-height: 175px;" valign="top" bgcolor="transparent" background="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:-18px;left:0;"><v:fill type="pattern" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png"/><v:textbox inset="0,0,20px,0"><![endif]--><table class="ydpbbb32ee7yahoo-ignore-table" style="width: 100%; min-height: 175px;" height="175" border="0"><tbody><tr><td class="ydpbbb32ee7card-richInfo2" style="text-align:left;padding:15px 0 0 15px;vertical-align:top"></td><td class="ydpbbb32ee7card-actions" style="text-align:right;padding:15px 15px 0 0;vertical-align:top"><div class="ydpbbb32ee7card-share-container"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if gte mso 9]></v:textbox></v:rect><![endif]--></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td><table class="ydpbbb32ee7card-info ydpbbb32ee7yahoo-ignore-table" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-size: auto; position: relative; z-index: 2; width: 100%; max-width: 400px; border-radius: 0px 0px 2px 2px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(224, 228, 233);" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;padding:16px 0 16px 12px;vertical-align:top;border-radius:0 0 0 2px"><img class="ydpbbb32ee7card-object-1 ydpbbb32ee7yahoo-ignore-inline-image ydpbbb32ee7ymail-preserve-class" src="https://s.yimg.com/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV2/23/logos/latimes.png" style="min-width:36px;margin-top:3px" height="36"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;padding:12px 24px 16px 12px;width:99%;font-family:YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;border-radius:0 0 2px 0"><h2 class="ydpbbb32ee7card-title" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: YahooSans, "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42); max-width: 314px;">It just rained (again). Is it safe to swim in the ocean?</h2><p class="ydpbbb32ee7card-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">After another back-to-back cold front that pelted rain, heavy snow and even a tornado warning down onto Southern...</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><p class="ydp80ef9074promo-timestamp" data-date="Dec. 27, 2019" data-shouldshowdate="true" data-shouldshowtime="true" data-timestamp="1577448013901" data-show-timestamp="true" style="font-family: arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; display: block; margin: 0px; text-transform: none; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Dec. 27, 2019</p></div></div></div><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">“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.”</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">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.</p><p style="margin: 30px 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">“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.”</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div id="ydpba69de62yiv3973637601"><div><div style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:#000000;"><div><p style="margin:0px;"> </p></div></div></div></div><div id="ydpba69de62yahoo_quoted_7724532841" class="ydpba69de62yahoo_quoted"><div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;">
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