California seeks to regulate salmon-killing tire chemical
Amid research linking a highly toxic tire chemical to salmon deaths in the Pacific Northwest, California officials are proposing a rule to require tire manufacturers to consider safer alternatives. The proposed rule by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control comes after a 2020 study that identified the chemical 6PPD, which is used to give tires longer life, as the culprit behind decades of coho salmon deaths in Washington state. The chemical has also been detected in California waters — including trace amounts in Lagunitas Creek, which harbors the largest population of endangered coho salmon between Monterey Bay and Mendocino County.
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