Tire chemicals and coho

[Stonedfish]

This popped up in my news feed yesterday.
It’s been discussed before on the board.
SF

U.S. regulators will review car-tire chemical that kills salmon, upon request from West Coast tribes

Federal regulators will review the use of a chemical found in tires after a petition from Native American tribes in California and Washington state.

apnews.com

 

[NCL]

Just heard a news story this morning that a tribe has filed a law suit over this issue. It was also reported the tire companies are looking into alternative preservatives. The story also stated this chemical has been in use for over 6 decades and is used in multiple rubber products

 

[SurfnFish]

Mandated composition changes would be an exceptionally heavy lift considering over 75% of the tires used in the US are made offshore, most in China, and the industry already spends heavily lobbying Congress and federal agencies fighting against chemical restrictions.

Internal emails reveal how the chemical lobby fights regulation

Messages to the Environmental Protection Agency from lobbyists show tactic of sowing doubt in science, critics say

www.theguardian.com

 

[Salmo_g]

Hey, we have the best Congress money can buy! Eww, I kinda' spit up a little bit writing that, given some of the idiot clowns I see in Congress.

 

[Stonedfish]

I did have one question regarding this.
This chemical seems to really affect coho. Does it also affect other species such as chums?
Thanks for any input folks can provide.
SF

 

[Matt B]

I did have one question regarding this.
This chemical seems to really affect coho. Does it also affect other species such as chums?
Thanks for any input folks can provide.
SF

They seem to be more resistant/less vulnerable.

Assessing cell line models for species differences in 6PPD-quinone sensitivity | U.S. Geological Survey

Coho salmon have been shown to be highly sensitive to the tire transformation chemical 6PPD-quinone, with concentrations contained in stormwater sufficient to induce mortality in up to 90% of the entire fall coho run. Other salmonid species (chinook, sockeye, chum) are much less sensitive to...

www.usgs.gov

 

[Chucker]

I did have one question regarding this.
This chemical seems to really affect coho. Does it also affect other species such as chums?
Thanks for any input folks can provide.
SF

There’s a ton of info on this out there. As I recall, it affects coho the most, then chinook and sockeye, then chum and pinks.

Given the toxicity of this chemical, a ban is really the only reasonable solution. The tire industry has alternatives that they can use. But even if it was brought in now, the effects would still be there for decades.

 

[VMP]

I did have one question regarding this.
This chemical seems to really affect coho. Does it also affect other species such as chums?
Thanks for any input folks can provide.
SF

See below for the EPA notice, which states: "A ubiquitous tire rubber-derived chemical induces acute morality in coho salmon (Tian, et.al. 2021) that concluded mass pre-spawn mortality of coho salmon is linked to 6PPD-quinone found in stormwater runoff, and Urban roadway runoff is lethal to juvenile coho, steelhead, and chinook salmonids, but not congeneric sockeye (French et. al. 2022)"

https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pet-001845_tsca-21_petition_6ppd_decision_letter_esigned2023.11.2.pdf

Also link to the publication refered in the petition (French et al. 2022), that concludes in part : "On the basis of these initial findings, the Salmonidae appear to sort into roughly three categories of vulnerability to 6PPD-q acute toxicity: high (coho salmon and brook trout), low (chum and sockeye salmon, Arctic char), and intermediate (steelhead/rainbow trout, Chinook salmon)." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9476652/

And some graphical info from the French et al. (2022) paper below.




As others have said, there is quite a bit of information available on this online. A ban and transition to alternatives could take a while if if happens at all, in the meantime there are mitigation options (such as runoff control, stormwater management, etc) that should be considered and hopefully implemented.

 

[Stonedfish]

See below for the EPA notice, which states: "A ubiquitous tire rubber-derived chemical induces acute morality in coho salmon (Tian, et.al. 2021) that concluded mass pre-spawn mortality of coho salmon is linked to 6PPD-quinone found in stormwater runoff, and Urban roadway runoff is lethal to juvenile coho, steelhead, and chinook salmonids, but not congeneric sockeye (French et. al. 2022)"

https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pet-001845_tsca-21_petition_6ppd_decision_letter_esigned2023.11.2.pdf

Also link to the publication refered in the petition (French et al. 2022), that concludes in part : "On the basis of these initial findings, the Salmonidae appear to sort into roughly three categories of vulnerability to 6PPD-q acute toxicity: high (coho salmon and brook trout), low (chum and sockeye salmon, Arctic char), and intermediate (steelhead/rainbow trout, Chinook salmon)." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9476652/

And some graphical info from the French et al. (2022) paper below.
View attachment 89270

View attachment 89271

As others have said, there is quite a bit of information available on this online. A ban and transition to alternatives could take a while if if happens at all, in the meantime there are mitigation options (such as runoff control, stormwater management, etc) that should be considered and hopefully implemented.

Here is some additional work they are doing in my area after a large construction job to combat flooding. I hope this helps the water quality of the creek.

https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/SPU/Documents/Projects/12AveNWBDIP/NWBasin_PossibleNaturalDrainageSystemLocations.pdf

Some past work.


SF

 

[JACKspASS]

This chemical seems to really affect coho. Does it also affect other species such as chums?
Thanks for any input folks can provide.
SF

Chums don't care, I actually tip my hook with a chunk of 4 ply Wild Country when fishing Carkeek. It helps keep from snagging up on all the branches and crap the beavers leave behind.

 

[SurfnFish]

1 billion end-of-life tires are generated every year. Not a small problem...

 

[Paige]

1 billion end-of-life tires are generated every year. Not a small problem...
View attachment 89298

Nothing a good fire cant take care of!

 

[Zak]

There’s a ton of info on this out there. As I recall, it affects coho the most, then chinook and sockeye, then chum and pinks.

Given the toxicity of this chemical, a ban is really the only reasonable solution. The tire industry has alternatives that they can use. But even if it was brought in now, the effects would still be there for decades.

Better treatment/infiltration of stormwater runoff from roads would help, too.

 

[Stonedfish]

1 billion end-of-life tires are generated every year. Not a small problem...
View attachment 89298

If I remember correctly, they were using ground up old tires as road surfaces at one time. Like mixing it in with asphalt or something?
SF

 

[Chucker]

Better treatment/infiltration of stormwater runoff from roads would help, too.

It won’t hurt, but to do that for even a fraction of the roads in the PNW would likely be vastly more expensive than making the tire manufacturers switch to something less toxic.

 

[Chucker]

If I remember correctly, they were using ground up old tires as road surfaces at one time. Like mixing it in with asphalt or something?
SF

“Crumb rubber” is what they call ground up tires. It has been used in all sorts of inappropriate things, because it’s abundant, cheap, and can’t be recycled into new tires. The place I have seen it the most is as a filler in astroturf playing fields. The kids call the crumbs “teleporting killer nubbies”, because they stick to everything and get everywhere!

 

[Wadin' Boot]

Here is some additional work they are doing in my area after a large construction job to combat flooding. I hope this helps the water quality of the creek.

https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/SPU/Documents/Projects/12AveNWBDIP/NWBasin_PossibleNaturalDrainageSystemLocations.pdf

Some past work.

View attachment 89274View attachment 89275View attachment 89276
SF

That looks really good, how did it do Saturday November 4, 10 Am till 11 Am the rain we had a few miles south was nuts!

 

[Stonedfish]

That looks really good, how did it do Saturday November 4, 10 Am till 11 Am the rain we had a few miles south was nuts!

No idea Boot, but I bet it did better than my front flower bed which a good portion of it washed way……
That was some heavy ass rain. The local chums liked it though, as it allowed them to make it over the beaver dams.
SF

 

[Mossback]

Those bio swales are pretty effective, no one size fits all approach is effective everywhere of course, but those seem to have a high degree of effectiveness per dollar.

 

[Tallguy]

Seems pretty obvious that something like tires should definitely be made from only non toxic chemicals. But basic common sense never really seems to overcome doing whatever is most profitable, and making sure you do some toxicology tests on your chemicals is certainly not profitable at all.