STREAM Project Studies Salmon-Killing Tire Toxin - WC135 MarApr 2024 - Magazine - Page 30
STREAM Project Studies Salmon-Killing Tire Toxin
GROUNDWATER
urgent questions have led to an explosion of research, which has begun to produce results. We
now know that coho salmon are the most vulnerable and that some salmon or trout, such as
brook trout and rainbow trout and white-spotted char, are somewhat vulnerable while others,
like chum salmon, are not. Atlantic salmon and
brown trout, two important fish species around
the North Atlantic and elsewhere, do not seem
vulnerable at all, and to date only salmon and
trout species have been identified as susceptible.
This new understanding of 6PPDQ also
immediately raised urgent questions concerning how tire manufacturers, environmental
managers, policy experts, and regulators could
deal with the problem. A significant and vocal
contingent including some Indigenous groups
are advocating for the complete removal or
replacement of 6PPDQ from tires by manufacturers, and this approach is already receiving
some attention from regulators in the U.S.
However, even if 6PPD was removed from
newly manufactured tires, existing tires containing the toxin will still be used on our roads
for many years to come. This means doing the
hard yards trying to identify which populations
are most at risk and finding the most efficient
ways of mitigating the problem where possible
is still required.
The STREAM group has expanded on an
intensive field work campaign begun by Dr.
Tanya Brown, a research scientist at DFO and
professor at Simon Fraser University. She and
her team travel to sites around Metro Vancouver collecting water samples from affected
streams and rivers before, during, and after rain
events.
Dr. Tim Rodgers, a postdoctoral scientist
who works on Brown’s sampling team, said
despite the relatively dry fall of 2023 a lot of
sampling has taken place. “It was pretty nice
going out in late summer and early autumn,
but sampling at 1 a.m. in December or during
an atmospheric river event is a lot tougher,” he
said. “Vancouver is a city famous for its rain
and while this fall hasn’t been as rainy as usual,
we’ve still been out sampling most weeks.” The
sampling is carried out with Brown’s group and
the A Rocha conservation group in an effort to
get the widest coverage possible in the Metro
Vancouver area. Some of the teams’ activities
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WATER C AN ADA • M ARCH/APRIL 2024
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