Salomon introduces bill to protect salmon from toxic chemical
Friday, January 12, 2024
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| Sen. Jesse Salomon, D-32 on the floor of the state senate |
6ppd makes its way into waterways through roadway runoff. Studies have linked it to salmon mortality, and it is the most common killer chemical for coho salmon. The substance can kill coho salmon after only a few hours of exposure.
“The science is as clear as it could be,” Salomon said, “this chemical is killing salmon at an alarming rate.
"We’re spending billions of dollars to remove culverts which prevent salmon from accessing spawn areas, but this chemical is killing them before they can even make it to those culverts. We need to ensure that we aren’t sabotaging our restoration efforts.”
According to the Environmental Research Institute of the States, 6ppd is the second most deadly toxin to aquatic creatures ever studied.
Already, the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations have filed a lawsuit against tiremakers alleging that they are violating the Endangered Species Act by using this known toxin.
Additionally, the EPA has responded to a petition submitted by several Native American tribes, stating that it is “necessary to initiate” risk management rulemaking under the Toxic Substances Control Act “to address the risk to the environment from 6ppd-q.”
Currently, all vehicle tires contain 6ppd, which makes the tires flexible and slows their degrading. According to Professor Ed Kolodziej, whose team first discovered the toxicity of 6ppd, removing the chemical “from motor vehicle products and focusing on the use of non-toxic chemicals … [is one] of the cheapest and most effective options,” for ensuring the health of Washington’s salmon.
The bill was heard in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology at 1:30pm on January 9, 2024. You can follow its progress here.
“I stand with our tribes in calling for the regulation of this chemical and the protection of our vulnerable salmon,” Salomon said.
”We need to make our intent to regulate this chemical clear and let tiremakers know that they need to be working with us to find an alternative substance which doesn’t present such serious risk to our salmon.”
Currently, all vehicle tires contain 6ppd, which makes the tires flexible and slows their degrading. According to Professor Ed Kolodziej, whose team first discovered the toxicity of 6ppd, removing the chemical “from motor vehicle products and focusing on the use of non-toxic chemicals … [is one] of the cheapest and most effective options,” for ensuring the health of Washington’s salmon.
“I’m hopeful that this bill will allow the state of Washington to manage the risk of this chemical and make clear the dire need for a replacement,” Salomon said. “We’ve made important progress on salmon restoration; we need to keep at it and find a way to make our waters less toxic to Washington’s fish.”
The bill was heard in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology at 1:30pm on January 9, 2024. You can follow its progress here.
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2 comments:
Sen. Salomon needs to consider the law of unintended consequences in his regulatory effort.
6PPD-Q is added to tires in order to mitigate tire damage from reactive oxygen species. It is a sacrificial additive that migrates to the tire's surface, reacting with ozone so the carbon double bonds in rubber are protected. The tire's initial dose of 6PPD-Q is continuously consumed over the tire's lifespan, and when it runs out, the tire develops cracks and can start to dry rot. Have you ever had a tire shop refuse to rotate your tires because they were too old and therefore unsafe? The reason for this is that with age, the 6PPD-Q runs out.
An unprotected tire with heavy cracking is much more likely to suffer a catastrophic blowout than a tire that's still protected by 6PPD-Q. This is an even bigger concern now than in previous years, because electric vehicles weigh on average 30% more than combustion vehicles, placing greater stress on tires.
The push to restrict 6PPD-Q is an enormous safety problem waiting to happen. Salmon runs do very well in low population areas like the Olympic Peninsula, upper BC, and Alaska. Maybe we need to be content with that and consider urban stream populations expendable.
I would ask Sen. Salomon if he thinks urban salmon are important enough to risk his family in a 70 mph tire blowout. Presently, good drivers can take heart that the risk of a serious accident inversely correlates with driver skill and sobriety, but random tire blowouts would make the roads more dangerous for even the best drivers.
If I'm being asked to tolerate an increased risk of the sudden violent death of my loved ones in order to save the fish of Thornton Creek, my answer is a resounding no. If Washington bans this additive and asks me to roll the dice, I will buy my tires in a neighboring state instead.
Excellent
Thank you
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