About five years after conservationists and environmentalists celebrated the success of restoration projects that brought coho salmon back to Seattle’s urban creeks, scientists noticed that the salmon got sick and died shortly after it rained before spawning. It took nearly 15 years to identify the culprit — 6PPD, a chemical used in tire manufacturing that washed into the streams and rivers in roadway runoff.
On the other side of the country, freshwater fish like striped bass are inedible because of PFAS contamination in the waterways. We are just beginning to understand the impact of these chemicals on marine life, biodiversity, and the food supply chain.
