Tribes call for national ban on salmon-killing chemical in car tires

Three Northwest tribes have petitioned the federal government to ban a salmon-killing chemical found in tires and urban streams worldwide.

As car and truck tires wear and leave behind skid marks and tire dust, the rubber stabilizer known as 6PPD turns into 6PPD-quinone (also called 6PPD-q), one of the most toxic substances ever evaluated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam, Puyallup, and Yurok tribes petitioned the agency on Tuesday to ban 6PPD to save the salmon at the heart of their cultures.

The tribes’ petition says the Environmental Protection Agency is required under the Toxic Substances Control Act to ban the manufacture, import, or use of 6PPD “as soon as practicable” since it poses an unreasonable risk to the environment.

It took decades of research by scientists in Washington state to learn that 6PPD-q was killing coho salmon in urban streams. It could take years more before the harmful substance no longer oozes out of tires and into urban waterways.