A ubiquitous tire rubber-derived chemical induces acute mortality in coho salmon

Zhenyu Tian; Haoqi Zhao; Katherine T Peter; Melissa Gonzalez; Jill Wetzel; Christopher Wu; Ximin Hu; Jasmine Prat; Emma Mudrock; Rachel Hettinger; Allan E Cortina; Rajshree Ghosh Biswas; Flávio Vinicius Crizóstomo Kock; Ronald Soong; Amy Jenne; Bowen Du; Fan Hou; Huan He; Rachel Lundeen; Alicia Gilbreath; Rebecca Sutton; Nathaniel L Scholz; Jay W Davis; Michael C Dodd; Andre Simpson; Jenifer K McIntyre; Edward P Kolodziej

doi:10.1126/science.abd6951

A ubiquitous tire rubber-derived chemical induces acute mortality in coho salmon

Science. 2021 Jan 8;371(6525):185-189. doi: 10.1126/science.abd6951. Epub 2020 Dec 3.

Authors

Zhenyu Tian^{1

2}, Haoqi Zhao³, Katherine T Peter^{1

2}, Melissa Gonzalez^{1

2}, Jill Wetzel⁴, Christopher Wu^{1

2}, Ximin Hu³, Jasmine Prat⁴, Emma Mudrock⁴, Rachel Hettinger^{1

2}, Allan E Cortina^{1

2}, Rajshree Ghosh Biswas⁵, Flávio Vinicius Crizóstomo Kock⁵, Ronald Soong⁵, Amy Jenne⁵, Bowen Du⁶, Fan Hou³, Huan He³, Rachel Lundeen^{1

2}, Alicia Gilbreath⁷, Rebecca Sutton⁷, Nathaniel L Scholz⁸, Jay W Davis⁹, Michael C Dodd³, Andre Simpson⁵, Jenifer K McIntyre⁴, Edward P Kolodziej^{10

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Urban Waters, Tacoma, WA 98421, USA.
² Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma, WA 98421, USA.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
⁴ School of the Environment, Washington State University, Puyallup, WA 98371, USA.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada.
⁶ Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA.
⁷ San Francisco Estuary Institute, 4911 Central Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804, USA.
⁸ Environmental and Fisheries Sciences Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA 98112, USA.
⁹ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, Lacey, WA 98503, USA.
¹⁰ Center for Urban Waters, Tacoma, WA 98421, USA. [email protected].

PMID: 33273063
DOI: 10.1126/science.abd6951

Abstract

In U.S. Pacific Northwest coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), stormwater exposure annually causes unexplained acute mortality when adult salmon migrate to urban creeks to reproduce. By investigating this phenomenon, we identified a highly toxic quinone transformation product of N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD), a globally ubiquitous tire rubber antioxidant. Retrospective analysis of representative roadway runoff and stormwater-affected creeks of the U.S. West Coast indicated widespread occurrence of 6PPD-quinone (<0.3 to 19 micrograms per liter) at toxic concentrations (median lethal concentration of 0.8 ± 0.16 micrograms per liter). These results reveal unanticipated risks of 6PPD antioxidants to an aquatic species and imply toxicological relevance for dissipated tire rubber residues.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Antioxidants*
Benzoquinones*
Northwestern United States
Oncorhynchus kisutch* / physiology
Phenylenediamines*
Rubber* / chemistry
Rubber* / toxicity

Substances

Antioxidants
Benzoquinones
N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine
Phenylenediamines
Rubber
N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine quinone