Scientists at the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) have found a highly toxic tire-related contaminant at levels lethal to coho salmon in stormwater flowing through four sites in the Bay Area. The contaminant, derived from a tire preservative, has been discovered by Washington state researchers to be responsible for high levels of coho salmon deaths in Puget Sound streams. These findings will  inform a petition by state stormwater leaders to the Department of Toxic Substances Control to address pollution of California streams caused by tires.

The research team, led by scientists at the University of Washington and Washington State University, published the results of their investigation yesterday in the journal Science. The chemical, 6PPD-quinone (pronounced "kwih-known"), can wash into streams along with tire wear particles when it rains. Scientists at San Francisco Estuary Institute collected samples from nine Bay Area streams and storm drains during storm events; four contained levels of this contaminant above the concentration at which half the coho salmon die after a few hours of exposure in laboratory experiments. SFEI’s Alicia Gilbreath and Rebecca Sutton are co-authors on the study.

When it comes to plastic pollution, that candy wrapper half buried in the dirt is only the tip of the iceberg. Plastic bags, cigarette butts, and bottle caps are not just an eyesore, but over time they break down in the environment, creating small pieces of debris known as microplastics. Microplastics can include anything from synthetic fibers of clothing to industrial pellets from the plastic manufacturing process. Microplastics are now ubiquitous in our environment--found in our air, drinking water, sediment, and in the San Francisco Bay and global ocean.     

SFEI's Urban Nature Lab and the UN-Habitat Global Urban Lectures series have produced a video on SFEI's Making Nature's City report. The lecture demonstrates why urban conservation planning is an essential component of urban design...

SFEI senior scientist, Dr. Rebecca Sutton, published a new study in the journal Chemosphere showing that it will take almost 50 years for PFOA concentrations in water to stabilize in San Francisco Bay. This pales in comparison to the trajectory of PFOS concentrations that will not stabilize in sediment and fish for 500 years. PFOS and PFOA are harmful to humans, causing liver damage, endocrine disruption, fertility decrease, and cancer.