Stormwater flushes bits of aging vehicle tires on roads into neighboring waterways
Researchers have discovered a chemical that kills coho salmon in urban streams.
December 8, 2020
Every fall, more than half the coho salmon that return to Puget Sound s urban streams die before they can spawn. In some streams, all die. But scientists didn t know why.
Now, a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded research team at the University of Washington Tacoma and Washington State University Puyallup has discovered the answer. When it rains, stormwater flushes bits of aging vehicle tires on roads into neighboring streams. The killer is in the mix of chemicals that leaches from tire wear particles: a molecule related to a preservative that keeps tires from breaking down too quickly.