Tag: Emerging contaminants

PSI in the news: ‘Salmon on Prozac’ and more

The Brightwater Treatment Plant in King County. Image courtesy of King County.
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PSI’s Andy James is collaborating with scientists at NOAA and Washington State University to understand how wastewater affects juvenile salmon in Puget Sound. The study is led by Jim Meador of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Sciences Center and focuses on discharge from three major sewage treatment plants in King County. Wastewater will be analyzed at the University of Washington Tacoma’s Center for Urban Waters for chemical signatures of contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and PCBs. The study was featured this week in the publication Crosscut. “The scope of chemicals monitored in this […]

Video: Identifying sources of pollution in the Skagit Valley

Screenshot from video.
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A video produced by the University of Washington Center for Urban Waters shows how chemical tracers can identify sources of pollution affecting shellfish growers in Puget Sound’s Skagit Valley. Fecal coliform pollution is a widespread problem in Puget Sound, resulting in costly beach and shellfish bed closures whenever it is detected. Analytical techniques can now reveal whether polluted water came from humans or livestock, an often contentious issue when cleaning up contaminants. If scientists can find traces of chemicals such as caffeine or cough syrup, they know to look for […]

Chemicals from automobile tires suspected in coho deaths

A dying female coho salmon in the Lower Duwamish spotted by Puget Soundkeeper volunteers in October 2017. Photo: Kathy Peter
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Findings authored this month by University of Washington scientists at the Center for Urban Waters and their collaborators provide new insight into “urban runoff mortality syndrome” affecting Puget Sound coho.   By Jeff Rice Chemicals linked to automobile tires have been found in stormwater associated with the widespread deaths of coho salmon in Puget Sound. The findings were presented this month in the journal Environmental Science & Technology and elevate tires as a prime suspect in “urban runoff mortality syndrome,” a condition that has been endangering coho salmon runs in the region. For […]

Bay mussels in Puget Sound show traces of oxycodone

Bay Mussels (Mytilus trossulus) on Edmonds Ferry Dock. Photo [cropped]: brewbooks (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/8840874065
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By Jeff Rice The opioid epidemic has now hit the waters of Puget Sound. State agencies tracking pollution levels in Puget Sound have discovered traces of oxycodone in the tissues of native bay mussels (Mytilus trossulus) from Seattle and Bremerton area harbors. The mussels were part of the state’s Puget Sound Mussel Monitoring Program. Every two years, scientists at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) transplant uncontaminated mussels from an aquaculture source on Whidbey Island to various locations in Puget Sound to study pollution levels. Mussels, which are […]

PSI will host a wide variety of sessions and panels at the 2018 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

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The announcements are in and Puget Sound Institute researchers will be chairing or co-chairing at least five different special sessions at next year’s Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in Seattle. The sessions will include subjects as varied as Contaminants of Emerging Concern, microplastics, Pacific herring, ecosystem modeling and the potential influence of the region’s technology industry on Salish Sea recovery. Watch this space in the coming months for more details on these sessions and for in-depth coverage of the conference as it develops.  

New project searches for contaminants of emerging concern

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PSI research scientist Andy James has been funded by the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program to identify contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the waters of Puget Sound. There are literally thousands of man-made chemicals known as CECs circulating in local waters, but very little is known about their impacts on wildlife. They are often found in tiny concentrations and can include residuals from pharmaceuticals and personal care products that are flushed through treated wastewater. James’s project will extend through May 2019 and will focus on the non-targeted sampling of […]

PSI scientists are working to identify chemicals in stormwater

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This much we know: Stormwater is nasty stuff. The state of Washington has called it one of the leading threats to the Puget Sound ecosystem. It can kill salmon within hours and it contributes to all kinds of health problems for species ranging from orcas to humans. What we don’t know, however, is exactly what’s in it. Rain and snowmelt wash an untold number of toxic chemicals from our streets and other impervious surfaces directly into our waterways, but there is no such thing as typical stormwater. It simply includes […]

Detecting organic contaminants in highway runoff and fish tissue

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This much we know: Stormwater is nasty stuff. The state of Washington has called it one of the leading threats to the Puget Sound ecosystem — it can kill salmon within hours and it contributes to all kinds of health problems for species ranging from orcas to humans. What we don’t know is exactly what’s in it. Rain and snowmelt wash an untold number of toxics into our waterways, but there is no such thing as typical stormwater. Its chemical makeup varies from place to place and depends on local […]

Identifying chemical suspects in stormwater

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Scientists know this much about stormwater: It can be extremely toxic. It can kill exposed fish such as coho salmon within hours. But figuring out exactly what is in stormwater has been a complex puzzle that has so far confounded scientists. Many of the chemical compounds in it remain unidentified. Is there such a thing as typical stormwater, or is it so variable that patterns can’t be detected? That has been the subject of research by Center for Urban Waters research scientist and PSI collaborator Ed Kolodziej, who will be presenting some […]

Where does Seattle coffee go after it’s poured down the drain?

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PSI’s Director Joel Baker was quoted in a story by KIRO News on how caffeine and other chemicals like Prozac find their way into Puget Sound. “Scientists like Dr. Baker say caffeine levels in our waters have not reached a crisis level,” KIRO reports, “but the studies point out why in the future, technology must be enhanced to remove it, along with more harmful chemicals humans ingest and flush, from making generational impacts on our environment.” Read the full article.

The impacts of rogue chemicals on Puget Sound

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In early 2016, scientists at NOAA made headlines when they reported finding 81 different man-made chemicals in the tissues of juvenile chinook salmon in Puget Sound. Among those chemicals were drugs such as cocaine and Prozac. This was the first time scientists had made these findings for the region’s salmon, but it has been well-understood that marine waters the world over are becoming an alphabet soup of rogue chemicals. In varying degrees, these chemicals are settling into the bodies of every species analyzed in Puget Sound, including humans. Many are pharmaceuticals that […]

PSI in the news: Identifying pharmaceuticals in Puget Sound salmon

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KUOW’s Bill Radke spoke with PSI director Joel Baker about a recent NOAA study identifying dozens of pharmaceuticals—from Prozac to Valium to bug spray—that are showing up in Puget Sound salmon. Listen to the interview.