Tire-derived pollutant found at elevated levels in critical fish habitats

Water running off busy roads in California carries the pollutant 6PPD-quinone at levels that could harm two endangered fish species

American Chemical Society

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Researchers collected water samples from the Waddell estuary (left) and Carbonera Creek (right) to determine how much of a tire-derived pollutant could wash into Central California waterways during storms.

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Credit: Adapted from Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2026, DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.6c00745

Endangered coho salmon and steelhead trout live and spawn in habitats surrounded by human activity, such as the San Francisco Bay area. During a recent storm, researchers found high levels of the tire-derived pollutant 6PPD-quinone in roadway outflows, creeks, and rivers. They report in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters that many samples exceeded levels considered fatal to juvenile salmon. Treating stormwater runoff and creating less toxic or non-toxic tire materials could make healthier environments.

“6PPD-quinone is not the only harmful component of roadway runoff, so finding scalable and cost-effective solutions is important.” – Ed Kolodziej

Rubber tires contain a protectant chemical, called 6PPD, that reacts with ozone in the air and forms 6PPD-quinone. Wind and rain transport tire debris and 6PPD-quinone into waterways, where it’s highly toxic to several fish species, including brook and rainbow trout. Coho salmon and steelhead trout are also highly susceptible to 6PPD-quinone, but not much is known about their exposure to the pollutant at the southern end of where the fish live along the U.S. West Coast. So, Ed Kolodziej and colleagues wanted to measure its concentration in critical watersheds where the fishes live and spawn along the Central California coast.

“These species are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and these are their most vulnerable and high-risk habitats,” says Kolodziej, the corresponding author of this study.

The researchers collected water samples from six road outfalls, 14 creeks and rivers, and two estuaries around the San Francisco Bay and the nearby coast in the peak of a rainstorm to provide a snapshot of potential exposure. Several sampling sites are designated as Endangered Species Act critical habitats for coho salmon and steelhead trout, and habitat protections are mandated. The team found that:

• 6PPD-quinone levels in 78% of the samples exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s value for the potential to cause acute harm to aquatic organisms.
• In 69% of samples, the pollutant exceeded the concentration that’s considered lethal to half of juvenile coho salmon exposed within 24 hours.
• Concentrations of 6PPD-quinone tended to be higher in creeks near heavy traffic and substantially lower at estuary locations, indicating that proximity to busy roadways will have the biggest impact on the pollutant’s accumulation in bodies of water.

One of the creeks had extensive habitat restoration efforts, but it also had some of the highest 6PPD-quinone levels measured in the study. "A great habitat with toxic water quality makes the problem worse. You are creating an ecological trap for the fish,” says Kolodziej. The authors suggest that physical habitat restoration and water quality improvement be addressed together, especially in watersheds that support endangered and threatened species.

“6PPD-quinone is not the only harmful component of roadway runoff, so finding scalable and cost-effective solutions is important,” says Kolodziej. He shares that potential strategies include treating stormwater in heavily traveled areas and developing tires with materials that are less toxic or non-toxic in the environment.

The authors acknowledge funding from Earthjustice and the Allan and Inger Osberg Endowed Professorship. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant also supported the purchase of analytical instruments.

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Journal

Environmental Science & Technology Letters

DOI

10.1021/acs.estlett.6c00745

Article Title

“Potentially Lethal Concentrations of 6PPD-Quinone Occur in Endangered Species Act Listed Aquatic Habitats of Central California”

Article Publication Date

13-Oct-2026

Music can enhance the flavour of your food

University of Copenhagen

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The figure shows what happens in the brain when taste is combined with music. On the left (A), sweet taste is paired with music associated with sweetness and compared with sweet taste alone. On the right (B), the same comparison is shown for sour taste. The yellow and orange areas indicate regions where the brain responds more strongly when music and taste are experienced together. These include areas involved in processing taste and sensory signals from the mouth. The findings show that what we hear can influence how the brain processes what we taste.

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Credit: Seeberg et al. (2026)

The moment we take a sip of our morning coffee or our first bite of lunch, the brain begins interpreting what we taste. Is it sweet? Sour? Or something else entirely?

But the brain does not create flavour based solely on signals from the tongue. That is the finding of a new study from the Department of Food Science, published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.

"When music reaches the ears at the same time as we are eating, we can see that the brain responds more strongly than when taste is experienced without music," says first author and postdoctoral researcher Alberte Baggesgaard Seeberg from the Department of Food Science.

Using brain scans, the researchers show that music can activate some of the same brain regions involved in processing taste.

"This tells us that flavour is not simply a property of food. Flavour is an experience created by the brain," says senior author and associate professor Janice Wang.

A breakthrough in brain imaging

This is the first time researchers have used brain imaging to show what happens in the brain when it processes taste. In the study, they used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures activity in different parts of the brain by detecting changes in blood flow.

"This allows us to move beyond simply asking people about their experiences, which has been the approach in previous studies. With brain scans, we gain a biological window into what happens when the senses interact," says Alberte Baggesgaard Seeberg.

While participants lay in the scanner, their brain activity was measured under different conditions. In some cases, they listened only to music. In others, they tasted flavour solutions. In some trials, music and taste were presented simultaneously. This enabled the researchers to compare how the brain responds to sound and taste separately and in combination.

The results clearly showed that certain brain regions were more active when participants listened to music while tasting one of the two flavour solutions.

"We can see that flavour is constructed by the brain and not only by the taste buds. What determines flavour is not limited to what happens on the tongue. It emerges through the integration of multiple senses," says Janice Wang.

The findings build on previous studies showing that music can enhance particular taste perceptions. For example, slow pop music with harmonious tones may enhance sweetness. Until now, however, this has only been investigated through behavioural studies in which participants rated flavours with and without music.

Shaping flavour experiences could improve wellbeing

According to the researchers, the new knowledge could be used to design better eating experiences in a range of settings, including restaurants, canteens and hospitals.

"For people who are at risk of malnutrition, something as simple as music could potentially improve the eating experience. There is a great deal we can do, often at very little cost, to improve quality of life for some people," says Alberte Baggesgaard Seeberg.

Janice Wang is pleased that, after many years of research into flavour and sensory perception, the team can now present biological evidence of how the senses interact.

"We now have a new way of influencing flavour perception, creating a better meal experience and potentially a better overall experience, without necessarily changing the food itself," she says.

______________________________________

Fact box: Sound can enhance flavour

It has long been known that music can alter the perception of flavour. This effect is known as sonic seasoning.

What is new is that researchers have now linked this effect to direct measurements of brain activity.

The new brain scans support previous research in the field.

______________________________________

Fact box: About the study

The study included 28 participants. While lying in a brain scanner, they alternated between listening to music and tasting flavour solutions made from sugar and citric acid. In some cases, both were presented at the same time.

The results show that certain types of music can enhance specific taste perceptions.

The researchers suggest that future studies should include a larger and more diverse group of participants, as factors such as age and cultural background may influence associations between music and taste.

Although flavour solutions were used in this study, the researchers expect similar results with foods that taste sweet or sour.

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Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-026-53065-7

Article Title

Music–taste interactions enhance gustatory and sensorimotor brain activity

 

Brazil's presidential elections linked to decades of fluctuating environmental destruction – study

University of Cambridge

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A University of Cambridge-led analysis of maps made from satellite imagery covering over three decades and seven presidents shows how the winner of Brazil’s national elections since 1990 directly affected the preservation of its globally vital ecosystems.

The study reveals a rollercoaster of habitat loss rates across presidencies in the country's three largest biomes – the Amazon, Cerrado, and Atlantic Forest – from a peak of 3.62 million hectares of native vegetation vanishing annually under Itamar Franco in the nineties, to a low of just 1.21 million hectares a year under Temer a decade ago.

Researchers found that the Amazon lost an average of around 994,000 hectares annually during the first three years of Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva's current presidency, compared with 1.4 million hectares a year under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.

This represents a reduction of about 29% in the average annual area of Amazon lost under Lula’s return compared with Bolsonaro’s time in office, according to the study, published in Environmental Research Communications.

However, in the Cerrado, the vast tropical savannas of central Brazil, the trend moved in the opposite direction. Annual habitat losses averaged around 1.28 million hectares between 2023 and 2025, an increase of around 50% compared with 854,000 hectares per year under Bolsonaro, during whose presidency savanna loss accelerated.

The Cerrado, a vital source of water that feeds many of Brazil’s rivers, has seen major increases in commercial farming of crops such as soybean, as US-China trade tensions during Trump’s first term saw China pivot to Brazilian soybean.

Weaker legal protections, along with efforts to curb deforestation in the Amazon, may have pushed agricultural expansion into the Cerrado, say researchers. They warn that major soy traders’ withdrawal from a moratorium on growing soy on recently deforested land could have devastating consequences for Brazil’s natural habitats.

The study also reveals how the Atlantic Forest, which stretches along Brazil's eastern coastline but has been “highly fragmented” by centuries of farming and urbanisation, actually experienced periods of recovery rather than simply a slowdown in loss.

During Lula's first two terms, the Atlantic Forest gained an average of around 18,000 hectares of native vegetation a year. Under Rousseff, that figure rose to nearly 30,000
hectares annually. Since Rousseff left office, the Atlantic Forest has returned to net vegetation losses, although at a much smaller scale than in the Amazon or Cerrado.

It is the only one of Brazil's three major biomes to have experienced periods of net vegetation gain in the last thirty-five years.

“Brazilian presidents have dictated the fate of the country’s forests and savannas for over three decades,” said study lead author Dr Vinicius Tonetti, a Brazilian conservation biologist at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology.

“We see that presidential terms characterised by strong environmental laws, satellite monitoring, and zero-deforestation agreements are clearly linked to major reductions in habitat loss,” Tonetti said. “Brazil's recent history shows just how much environmental policy matters and comes from the top.”

"Our findings also show that while deforestation in the Amazon has slowed under Lula, the loss of natural habitats across the Cerrado has remained high. Protecting one ecosystem while losing another is not a sustainable solution."

The study used land-cover maps from the MapBiomas project, derived from decades of satellite data, to track changes in the Amazon, Cerrado and Atlantic Forest between 1990 and 2025.

Across all three biomes combined, the largest average annual net loss of native vegetation occurred during the presidency of Itamar Franco, between 1993 and 1994, when approximately 3.62 million hectares disappeared each year.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso's (FHC) administration, from 1995 to 2002, recorded average annual losses of around 3.30 million hectares.

Lula's first two terms, between 2003 and 2010, marked a major turning point, with loss of natural habitat falling by some 35% to an annual average of around 2.44 million hectares. In the Amazon alone, habitat loss was around 20% lower under Lula than under FHC, with a significant slowdown in the rate of deforestation.

“During Lula's first two terms, agricultural production expanded while stronger monitoring and enforcement resulted in more habitat preservation,” said Tonetti. “Economic development and environmental protection do not have to come at the expense of each other."

Under Lula’s successor Dilma Rousseff, overall habitat loss almost halved again (a further 46% reduction) to about 1.31 million hectares a year, before reaching just 1.21 million hectares a year on average during Michel Temer's time in office.

Under Bolsonaro, however, major cuts to environment agencies, weakened enforcement, reduced environmental fines, and efforts to loosen environmental regulations coincided with a sharp loss of native vegetation across ecosystems, rising to 2.36 million hectares per year on average, almost doubling (95% increase) from the historic low of Temer’s premiership.

While Lula’s return saw deforestation in the Amazon fall significantly, the overall loss of native vegetation across Brazil’s three major biomes has declined by only around 2%, largely because of increasing vegetation loss in the Cerrado.

The collapse of the soy moratorium in the Amazon and new laws restricting Indigenous land claims are part of a worrying trend that may escalate under a new president, according to Tonetti. For example, Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged to overhaul the environmental licensing system if elected.

"Brazil has shown the world that deforestation can be dramatically reduced when there is the political will to act. But that progress is fragile. Recent changes to environmental legislation and the weakening of commitments to deforestation-free soy could undermine years of conservation gains,” said Tonetti. 

“As the nation once again elects a president, the voters of Brazil need to understand just how much is at stake for some of the world’s most precious forests and ecosystems.”

The single largest gap in vegetation loss between presidents for any of the biomes was seen in the Amazon, which lost an average of 1.95 million hectares a year under Fernando Henrique Cardoso but just 614,158 hectares a year under Dilma Rousseff – an area of forest the size of Montenegro spared annually.

Note:

The study measured the net change in vegetation cover rather than the total area cleared. Regeneration in some areas can offset losses elsewhere.

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Journal

Environmental Research Communications

DOI

10.1088/2515-7620/aeb35d

Article Title

Vegetation cover dynamics across presidential terms in Brazil

Article Publication Date

22-Oct-2026

 

From snapshots to trajectories: Environmental nucleic acids unlock dynamic ecological monitoring

South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Wider reach, greater impact: Biological Diversity is now indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

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Credit: Biological Diversity Editorial Office

Date: October 22, 2026

Beijing, China: Traditional ecological biomonitoring mostly captures discrete snapshots of ecosystem conditions, offering limited capacity to track ongoing ecological change. A recent comprehensive review published in Biological Diversity highlights that environmental nucleic acids (eNA), encompassing environmental DNA (eDNA) and environmental RNA (eRNA), provide a powerful toolbox for reconstructing multidimensional ecological trajectories.

eNA signals are temporally integrated outputs shaped by biological release, molecular properties, environmental transport‑retention and laboratory analytical procedures. Not mere instantaneous ecological readings, their temporal responsiveness and retention jointly define what historical biological information can be retrieved. With proper ecological validation, calibrated eNA observations can characterize taxonomic, demographic, physiological and functional dimensions of ecological state. Repeated complementary sampling further enables researchers to resolve core trajectory attributes: change direction and magnitude, rate and timing, intermediate pathways, as well as patterns of progression, stabilization and recovery.

Nevertheless, inferring underlying ecological processes remains technically demanding. Identical molecular signatures may stem from distinct ecological drivers, requiring complementary datasets, mechanistic or state‑space models, alongside explicit handling of identifiability and uncertainty.

Moving beyond pure academic inference, trajectory‑oriented eNA monitoring delivers decision‑ready outputs for real‑world scenarios including biological invasion control, ecological disturbance response, species conservation and ecosystem restoration. Instead of relying on isolated measurements, managers can judge whether to maintain surveillance, launch intervention or adjust existing actions according to complete change trajectories.

The authors point out key future research priorities. Researchers need better‑calibrated target‑specific temporal response functions, non‑redundant multi‑marker observation combinations, and dynamic reference regimes. Ultimately, the field aims to advance eNA biomonitoring from retrospective reconstruction toward forecasting and adaptive decision‑making. This paradigm shift offers great promise for evidence‑based environmental governance.

 

Original Source

W. Xiong, and A. Zhan, “From Ecological States to Trajectories: Revealing Ecological Dynamics Through Environmental Nucleic Acids,” Biological Diversity (2026): 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1002/bod2.70040.

 

Keywords

adaptive management, ecological biomonitoring, ecological dynamics, environmental DNA (eDNA), environmental RNA (eRNA), trajectory inference

 

About the Author

Wei Xiong (First Author), Ph.D. in Science, Associate Professor at the Research Center for Eco‑Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her main research focuses on the mechanisms of ecological effects of water pollution based on environmental DNA approaches.

Aibin Zhan (Corresponding Author), Ph.D. in Science, Professor at the Research Center for Eco‑Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research interests cover invasion biology and pollution ecology of aquatic ecosystems.

 

About the Journal

Biological Diversity (ISSN: 2994-4139) is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal sponsored by the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences ((SCBG, CAS), and published in partnership with John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. It is dedicated to advancing biodiversity conservation, safeguarding ecosystem functions and services, and promoting the sustainable utilization of biological resources under global environmental change. The journal welcomes original research, reviews, commentaries, and short communications across a broad spectrum of disciplines, including botany, zoology, microbiology, taxonomy, phylogenetics, genomics, cytology, ecology, climatology, economics, sociology, and real-time policy theory. The journal is indexed in Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

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Journal

Biological Diversity

DOI

10.1002/bod2.70040

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

From Ecological States to Trajectories: Revealing Ecological Dynamics Through Environmental Nucleic Acids

Article Publication Date

18-Oct-2026

Environmental nucleic acids (eNA) observations integrate temporal and ecological information across multiple dimensions of an ecological state. Repeated and complementary observations extend biomonitoring from state assessment toward reconstruction of ecological trajectories, including their direction, rate, pathways, progression, recovery, and underlying processes. This trajectory-oriented perspective can further support adaptive environmental management by informing when intervention is needed, whether management actions are effective, and how ecological systems respond over time.

Credit

Wei Xiong, Aibin Zhan

 

“Average” human genome described for first time, with implications for disease risk

A new study has characterised the “average” human genome, providing key information on normal human genetic variation and genetic disease risk.

University of Exeter

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This graphical abstract summaries the key characterstics of the "average" genome, highlighting that variation is the norm

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Credit: Professor Caroline Wright, University of Exeter

A new study has characterised the “average” human genome, providing key information on normal human genetic variation and genetic disease risk.

Researchers at the University of Exeter concluded that everyone – regardless of their current health status – could potentially be told they are at risk for numerous conditions based on their genetics alone. 

Led by the University of Exeter, the  study is published today in Genome Medicine and is also being presented at the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting. The research was supported by the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Exeter. The team analysed data from two major population biobanks that include whole genome sequencing, totalling nearly one million individuals.

Key findings include that every person’s genome includes around five million variants, or locations in the DNA that differ between individuals. These include around 10,000 that alter gene sequences, which can have a positive or negative effect – ranging from lactose intolerance to drug response – but are often biologically neutral. Every person also has between one and three rare variants that have previously been shown to cause serious genetic diseases, and another 50 rare variants that are currently of uncertain clinical relevance.

The team also analysed numerous polygenic risk scores, which take into account all known genetic factors to calculate risk of getting a disease in future. Looking at polygenic scores for 28 common conditions – such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and schizophrenia – they found that most people would be categorised as at high risk  of genetic risk for around three conditions. The team did not investigate the health status of any of the participants, so many of these participants might not have any diseases. The study underlines that such findings can be part of normal genetic variation, and other factors are crucial in development of disease.

Senior author Professor Caroline Wright, at the University of Exeter, said: “Whole genome sequencing has become such an important tool in diagnosing genetic disease, and we’re increasingly moving towards genetic screening for predicting disease. Yet most people are unaware of just how much genetic variation is present in every genome. Actually, variation is the norm. For the first time, our study outlines what to expect in the average human genome, which can benefit  clinicians and patients across the word in understanding, interpreting and contextualising genomics.

“Importantly, we found that everyone carries a small number of genetic variants linked to disease, although many of these will not actually cause disease in that individual. It is therefore crucial to consider context when interpreting findings from genetic testing, including symptoms or family history of disease as well as other clinical and environmental risk factors. Our findings also provide important context for professionals who are interpreting genetic testing results or commissioning genetic screening programmes.”

Researchers analysed data from UK Biobank, and from the All of US study, in the US. Although the studies are large, participation is skewed towards people of Western European origin, and the research team recognises the need for data on more diverse populations to continue to evolve understanding and impact.

Among the findings, they also found that individuals in the two biobanks who were recruited alongside their parents had around 63 “new” variants in their genome, not present in either parent. Known as “de novo”, these mutations occurred mostly in the fathers’ sperm and some in the mothers’ eggs. The number increased particularly with the age of the father (around 1.2 more mutations per year), which has important implications for reproductive decision-making.

The paper is titled ‘The average individual genome: a survey of nearly 1 million whole-genome sequences’, and is published in Genome Medicine.

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Journal

Genome Medicine

DOI

10.1186/s13073-026-01792-x

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

The average individual genome: a survey of nearly 1 million whole-genome sequences

Article Publication Date

22-Oct-2026