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Hello everyone and welcome to season three of rethinking IHS Global Goals Local Delivery and Engine Alliance podcast. My name is Beatrice Designer. I am water stewardship technology lead at HPC Italy, global water working Group, lead at Innovation Alliance and host of today's bonus episode on the effects of six bpd Keenan on the coho salmon. I'm very happy to be joined by our speaker.
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I view from Terra Parks Canada, who I am sure you will remember from our last episode on Emerging Contaminants that aired last week. Thank you Ivy, once again for being with us.
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Ivy, can you tell us why the health of coho salmon in particular, has been used as an indicator, as an early warning sign almost for six bpd own contamination.
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yeah, so coho salmon is very sensitive. Before I focus on specifically on coho salmon, I would like to discuss them within
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a broader context of, Pacific Northwest salmon species.
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As coho salmon is one of the salmon species most affected by six ppd. Quinault. Now, there are numerous studies conducted in the Pacific Northwest region, such as those by scientists from Washington state universities, also from BC, University of Columbia, British Columbia have shown that, Pacific Northwest harmonic is a vital component of the Pacific Northwest ecosystems and associated coastal habitat.
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As keystone species, they play a crucial role in regional ecosystems as predators, prey, and nutrient recyclers. As indicator species. They are highly sensitive to changes in water quality and can reflect the health and condition of their environment as a whole. Their presence or decline can signal surface water degradation. Broader, ecosystem dysfunction. Now, beyond ecology, they are culturally and economically important, especially to tribal nations where salmon are central to their diet, cultural practice, and also in some cases, treaty protected fisheries.
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Now, among among salmon species, coho salmon are particularly valuable as indicator because they are extremely sensitive to contaminants, particularly six Quinn, known as Beatrice, mentioned before a few other species, such as coastal cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, they trout are also very sensitive. Their response to six PPD quinone in surface water is both acute and repeatable, which makes them a key species in identifying urban runoff contaminants in fresh, in freshwater environments.
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Therefore, six speed quinone was recognized as a global contaminant since 2023.
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Taking a step back. How does 60 PD cannon actually make its way into surface water bodies and causes widespread impact, as well as decrease mortality? In some cases, uncolored salmon populations?
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six PPD, quinone, it's, first introduced to the environment because of its parent product cost six PPD.
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Six PPD is an anti Dakotan chemical that was that have been widely used as car tire additive to since the 1970s to prevent car tire damages, you know, such as cracking, drying when exposed to ozone and further to improve road safety.
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So now we know that the car, the when the tire, where particles are released into the environment six PPD reacts with ozone. And is it transformed into a toxic byproduct known as a six speed quando,
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You know, I was actually reading the other day that some of the earliest studies on the link between coho salmon mortality and PD cannon contamination and stormwater runoff, especially, actually originate from cities in the Pacific Northwest and the USA, in particular Seattle and Washington. And I've out of my own curiosity, is there any particular reason or motive behind this?
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Right. So, coho salmon, actually, you know, they are native to the Pacific Northwest region. So at the point when coho salmon was dying, you know, in massive amounts in, urban stream, creeks, waters, fresh water bodies, that's very alarming to people. And that's where they originated. And I and I think that's why there were, you know, a large amount of, studies, coming out of that region and giving that it's, it's, close to the, the, the Pacific region that, a lot of universities have, early access to, to this problem and can see this problem.
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I mean, what's one of the main takeaways that you would like to share with us, with the audience, based on, on the work that you have been executing and the studies that you have been supervising in relation to coho salmon, is there anything that we could be doing right now acting upon, especially.
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So the key takeaway, you know, based on my understanding, is that the additive, it's highly toxic. As seen, they are highly toxic to aquatic life and should not be taken lightly. There's a real sense of urgency for us as humans to identify and transition into a less toxic alternative. Now, you know, for a lot of municipalities like lead, the current stormwater management approach are likely not sufficient to handle, six PPD and six PD quinone.
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So regulators and organizations should proactively explore, investigate better and improve approaches to limit the release of these men. May chemical you know, and to to prevent them from entering our, surface water system and then eventually, you know, to better protect the aquatic ecosystem and also protect human health.
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So I we if we think about the salmon, what is it about their life cycle that makes them so vulnerable to urban runoff and consequently, to 60?
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So, coho salmon, as we know, is part of the larger salmon, species. So salmon are often anadromous, fish, meaning they spend most of their adult life in ocean, but migrate back to freshwater to spawn, to lay their eggs. Their migrate, their migratory behavior make them especially sensitive to environmental impacts occurring across the entire watershed, including both freshwater system and coastal sea water system.
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Their life cycle moves through multiple connected habitats, beginning with hatching in fresh water systems, streams, creeks, and then they transition through estuaries as juveniles and then eventually maturing in the marine environment and spend most of their adult life in oceans. And then finally they move back, returning back to freshwater in mostly urban areas to spawn. The disruption at any one of these stages can affect the overall population.
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So now studies done by, you know, from, a number of universities documented that although anadromous stream rearing stomachs represent less than half of 1% of all fish globally, they make up about 25% of freshwater fish species in the Pacific Northwest, highlighting their disproportionate ecological importance in this region and and also, you know, globally, as a lot of these salmon species are, present
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When we say that they acting as a canary in the coal mine, what is actually being signaled to us in, in practical terms.
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Right. So when coho salmon are described as, canary in the coal mine for freshwater systems, because it's known to be the most sensitive species for six people with no exposure, they are signaling a broader systemic water quality issue caused by urban runoff. That, you know, those runoff transport particles into our freshwater system. And coho salmon are uniquely sensitive to this chemical
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and their response to freshwater streams.
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It's rapid, consistent, lethal, sending the loud alarm to people. In practical terms, this signal is seen through a distinctive, predictable set of symptoms following their exposure. As I mentioned in the earlier episode,
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And, urban mortality syndromes result in extremely high responding mortality.
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Approximately 60 to 90% of the coho salmon in urban creeks, sometimes within 90 minutes, minutes of exposure. And, you know, you see the mass, death toxicity occurred at very low concentrations with average, LC 50 of 80 nanograms per liter. And this concentration is often exceeded in, stormwater runoff.
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So cool. Salmon are especially effective. Sentinels, because this acute toxicity, it's a highly, species specific. Similar effects have not been observed in non salmon species or aquatic invertebrates, highlighting how unique the coho salmon response is that declines, therefore signals the presence of, pervasive contaminants in urban waterways, one that might enter diet consumed by human but specific health effects to humans are unknown, which is very concerning to us.
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Thanks, Ivy. Thank you for that.
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So very special. Thank you, Ivy, once again for this very interesting and stimulating conversation. I hope all of you enjoyed it as much as I did in facilitating it. Make sure to follow the Innovation Alliance podcast, Rethinking Us on Spotify, YouTube, LinkedIn, Apple, and of course, make sure to share this episode, but also the series with colleagues and contacts from across the network.
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Until next time, thank you for listening, for tuning in, and for being part of this big global eat of community working teacher knowledge, interaction.
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Sure.
