Chris Kozak, professor of chemistry at Memorial University of Newfoundland, investigates the chemical composition of mysterious blobs that have been showing up on the beaches of Placentia Bay, N.L., on Oct. 29.Greg Locke/The Globe and Mail
Chris Kozak didn’t set out to be a blobologist. But when a colleague handed him Ziploc bags filled with some of the curious white goop that has been washing up on the beaches of Newfoundland’s Placentia Bay, the Memorial University chemistry professor knew what he had to do. The globs had perplexed locals, baffled government scientists and captured the world’s attention since they rolled in with the tide in early September.
“The main thing we want to give the folks living in the communities of Placentia Bay is some peace of mind,” said Dr. Kozak during an interview.
Inside his St. John’s office, he opened one of the bags, stuck his nose in and took a deep whiff. The blob smelled like WD-40 or a tube of caulking. He prodded it, noting its slimy, Silly Putty consistency.
“It’s definitely elastic,” he said, likening it to a white rubber eraser. He also noted that it had been liquid at some point, since embedded in the blob were pebbles and bits of seaweed.
Some had hypothesized the material might be a form of natural rubber. But when Dr. Kozak put a sample through the combustion elemental analyzer to learn its composition, the results quashed that theory.
“The fact that I saw zero nitrogen, zero sulphur, told me this blob matter is most definitely not natural,” he said.
In his lab, he and his graduate students dug deeper, preparing samples and using instruments that act as “corroborating witnesses.” One piece of equipment identified the types of bonds. Another heated a sample and measured mass loss. One more calculated energy while heating and cooling the material.
Bit by bit, the experiments told him what the substance was not – and lead him to the most probable conclusion. The globs are very likely what one Southern Harbour woman posited to The Globe last month when she stumbled across scads of them on the beach: globs of glue.
Dr. Kozak determined the blobs are a mixture of synthetic latex rubber and polyvinyl acetate (PVA), a synthetic plastic polymer that is the active ingredient in glue. He said the gobs of goop are very likely an industrial-strength glue, most likely an adhesive used in the shipping industry.
Placentia Bay, located on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, is one of the largest oil-handling ports in the country and sees a high volume of marine vessel traffic, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It’s also home to the largest shipbuilding and repair facility in province. The DFO notes on its webpage that these commercial activities present a risk to the health of the coastal ecosystem, which is home to many seabird species, a diverse marine life and spawning grounds for cod.
Dr. Kozak has determined the blobs are a mixture of synthetic latex rubber and polyvinyl acetate (PVA), a synthetic plastic polymer that is the active ingredient in glue.Greg Locke/The Globe and Mail
It’s unclear how widespread the blob pollution is in the ocean, but Dr. Kozak said evidence suggests a large amount has been dumped at sea, either by accident or by someone who was patching up a boat and disposed of the leftovers overboard.
The plasticky substance has appeared up and down the eastern coast of Placentia Bay, and the amount that has been washing ashore indicates at least one – if not several – oil drum’s worth of matter was dumped.
There’s also likely a lot more out there that’s not visible. “We’re only seeing the stuff that’s churned up and washed ashore, so there could be loads of stuff at the bottom of the sea,” Dr. Kozak said.
While the origin of the blobs is still unclear, the professor said they must be cleaned up. Animals are likely ingesting the goop, mistaking it for food such as jellyfish. And as it continues to be bashed around by the waxing and waning tide, particles could embed in ocean sediment.
Plastic pollution has a direct and deadly effect on wildlife, and the material can transfer up the food chain to bigger fish, marine mammals and human seafood eaters, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, an American non-profit.
Environment and Climate Change Canada, the federal agency responsible for the enforcement of pollution-prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act, has been on the blob case since early September, collecting samples and conducting aerial and underwater surveys in an attempt to figure out the extent of the substance, what it is and the potential source.
Last month, Environment Canada spokesperson Samantha Bayard said a preliminary analysis at a federal laboratory suggested the material could be plant-based, but additional study was needed. Last Friday, spokesperson Eleni Armenakis said that “continued analysis is under way,” adding that since the case is an “open enforcement file,” no other information can be provided until a determination is made about next steps.
The Globe and Mail advised Environment Canada of Dr. Kozak’s findings, but the agency did not return a request for comment by deadline.
The Fisheries Act prohibits the deposit of deleterious substances into water frequented by fish. Government enforcement officers can issue warnings and directions, and recommend prosecution, among other measures. First offence fines start at $15,000 for individuals and $500,000 to $6-million for corporation.
It’s unclear how widespread the blob pollution is in the ocean, but Dr. Kozak says evidence suggests a large amount has been dumped at sea.Greg Locke/The Globe and Mail