The mystery behind the white spots washing up on eastern Newfoundland beaches that caught people’s attention this fall (and sparked international media interest throughout the year) has been solved, according to a St. John’s scientist. path).

In early September, people began finding white sponge-like substances on the beaches of Placentia Bay.

Speculation about the stains included discharged debris and grease, although Memorial University chemistry professor Chris Kozak has narrowed it down.

“It’s man-made. It’s not natural,” Kozak told CBC Radio. The transmission.

“There was no nitrogen or sulfur in it… I think what I’ve identified is polyvinyl acetate.”

Hilary Corlett, an assistant professor in the earth sciences department at Memorial University, had already taken some samples and theorized that the spots were artificial.

He reached out to Kozak, who confirmed it and more.

“It could have been an industrial adhesive or something at some point and ended up in the ocean,” he added.

Also known as PVA, this material had undergone a “cross-linking process” to return it to its current state.

Kozak said the stains don’t come from a common adhesive, Elmer’s glue, which contains PVA or borax, which is used in children’s crafts to make a slimy, slimy substance.

“This is not a schoolboy science experiment gone wrong, but it is something similar,” he said.

Kozak said the most common use of PVA is in adhesives, glues, thin films and protective coatings, including certain nail polish coatings.

“But on such a large scale, it would be a type of industrial adhesive,” he said.

At this point, he said he couldn’t say where the slicks originated, and said the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and others will have to track it down.

“I think it’s up to DFO and other organizations to look at where this could come from. But I recommend that they look at the large industrial uses of the adhesive in the region,” Kozak said.

He said he plans to contact the government with his findings.

Unraveling the mystery

Corlett said she became intrigued by the so-called mysterious spots appearing in Placentia Bay and decided to investigate. One day he went to Arnold’s Cove, collected samples, and quickly noticed some of its physical characteristics.

“One of the particular masses I picked up really piqued my interest because I could see there were pebbles embedded in it,” Corlett said.

Thinking it could be man-made, he asked his colleague Kozak for help to analyze it further.

“And I said, ‘Cool! This is what I do, I love it.’ So send me the samples,'” Kozak said.

He started with a series of tests and brought in graduate students, calling it Project Unknown Glob, to help determine what it was.

It included testing it for hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur, as well as setting it on fire to see if it would melt.

“I definitely wouldn’t eat it”

Kozak said the substance is perfectly safe to handle in its current stable form.

“I definitely wouldn’t eat it, but I’ve been able to handle it. It’s okay,” he said.

“In its cured form, it’s pretty, pretty stable. It won’t penetrate the skin,” he said. “It still has a bit of a volatile smell. I wouldn’t use it as a bath sponge.”

He advised anyone who comes across the stains on the beach to throw them in a trash container or pick them up for DFO. He’s also worried that animals might mistake the spots for jellyfish and try to eat them.

“I would call this plastic pollution. So it’s certainly a pollutant. You don’t want it to come to light.”

Corlett said he has heard from people who live in the Placentia Bay area who are concerned about the origin of this substance.

“It’s important that we try to use the tools we have at Memorial to resolve this, because it must be disturbing,” he said, adding that longtime residents had said they had never seen a substance like this on their shores before.

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