6PPD-quinone in water from the San Francisco-San Joaquin Delta, California, 2018-2024.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) is an expansive river delta supplying a large portion of California's fresh water for agriculture and residential use, and it is also an area of critical habitat for numerous state and federally listed species of concern. In many locations, urban stormwater flows directly into the Delta. 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-Q), an ozonation byproduct of a tire antiozonant 6PPD, has been shown to enter surface water via these pathways and can cause various toxicological effects, including acute urban mortality syndrome to coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) at low levels (LC = 41 and 95 ng/L for juveniles and adults, respectively).