Using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry to Identify Organic Contaminants Linked to Urban Stormwater Mortality Syndrome in Coho Salmon

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b03287
• Publication Date: 2018-09-07T13:18:20Z
• Authors: Katherine T. Peter; Zhenyu Tian; Christopher Wu; Peter Lin; Sarah White; Bowen Du; Jenifer K. McIntyre; Nathaniel L. Scholz; Edward P. Kolodziej
• Keywords: 570; 13. Climate action; North America; Urbanization; 11. Sustainability; Animals; DOI:10.1021/acs.est.8b03287; Oncorhynchus kisutch; 01 natural sciences; Mass Spectrometry; Water Pollutants, Chemical; 6. Clean water; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Urban stormwater is a major threat to ecological health, causing range of adverse, mostly sublethal effects. In western North America, urban runoff acutely lethal adult coho salmon ( Oncorhynchus kisutch) that spawn each fall in freshwater creeks. Although the mortality syndrome correlated urbanization and attributed road contaminant(s), causal agent(s) remain unknown. We applied high-resolution mass spectrometry isolate chemical signature: list nontarget identified features co-occurred waters spawners (road from controlled exposures receiving two field observations symptomatic coho). Hierarchical cluster analysis indicated tire wear particle (TWP) leachates were most chemically similar with observed toxicity, relative other vehicle-derived sources. Prominent contaminants signature included groups nitrogen-containing compounds derived TWP, polyethylene glycols, octylphenol ethoxylates, polypropylene glycols. A (methoxymethyl)melamine compound family, previously unreported was detected creeks at concentrations up ∼9 ∼0.3 μg/L, respectively. The results indicate TWPs are an under-appreciated contaminant source watersheds should be prioritized for fate toxicity assessment.