Young Fraser River Chinook salmon swimming in chemical soup, SFU study finds

Juvenile Chinook salmon in the Lower Fraser River estuary are feeding and growing in a slurry of contaminants from pharmaceuticals, personal care products to industrial chemicals, according to a new Simon Fraser University study.

Researchers found more than 200 contaminants in water and fish tissue samples collected from five sites in the Lower Fraser River estuary, including common blood pressure and diabetes medications, antidepressants, caffeine and cocaine.

“We’ve shown there’s a mixture of chemicals in the Lower Fraser, which not only presents potential risks to juvenile Chinook, but also other aquatic life,” says Bonnie Lo, environmental scientist and lead author of the study.

Published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, the risk-based screening study focused on juvenile Harrison River Chinook, the largest Chinook stock in the Lower Fraser River.

Read more on SFU Science News.