A Canadian scientist believes he has found the answer to the bizarre white blobs popping up along the coast of Newfoundland.
Memorial University professor Christopher M. Kozak was determined to find out what the strange sticky substance was after the college obtained samples from Placentia Bay.
Now, “with a high degree of confidence,” Kozak believes the butyl rubber is PVA composite, which is used in the oil and gas industry to clean oil pipes and is found in adhesives, he said. The New York Times.
‘[It] suggests some kind of industrial adhesive or some kind of material that can be used in different industrial sectors,” he said.
Newfoundland is known as a center for fishing and industry, and the spots started appearing a few months ago.
The Canadian Environment Agency is also investigating the strange substance, but would not comment on Kozak’s hypothesis while they continue to investigate the matter.
Assistant Professor Hilary Corlett traveled to Placentia Bay to collect the samples and the team of scientists helping Kozak hypothesized that it was polyurethane, which is often used to insulate boats in the region, according to the NYT.
When the monster arrived, he told The Guardian: ‘The first thing I did was poke it and smell it.’
Memorial University professor Christopher M. Kozak was determined to find out what the strange white blobs that resembled undercooked dough were after the college obtained samples of them from Placentia Bay
Now Kozak (pictured) believes ‘with a high degree of confidence’ that the butyl rubber is PVA composite, which is used in the oil and gas industry to clean oil pipes and is found in adhesives.
He discovered that the substance had a “rubbery” texture “like overworked bread dough,” leading them to believe it was an elastomeric polymer.
“And the smell that came out was a bit like walking down the solvent aisle at your hardware store,” he told the British outlet.
After several rounds of testing, they discovered that the item was devoid of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, meaning it couldn’t be something natural and it’s all in polyurethane. It also contained no sulfur.
Kozak then performed spectroscopy – which studies the structure of atoms and molecules – and found it had chemical bonds similar to polyvinyl acetate, which is found in shipping adhesives, according to The Guardian.
A mass spectrometry they also performed showed that it had characteristics of synthetic rubber.
“I’ve done eight different tests and they all point to something synthetic,” the chemist told The Guardian.
All of this led them to determine that the material was butyl rubber-PVA composite, which is found in white glue.
“I’m pretty sure the sample I handled was PVA butylene rubber,” he told The Times.
‘[It] suggests some kind of industrial adhesive or some kind of material that can be used in different industrial sectors,” he said. He discovered that the substance had a “rubbery” texture “like overworked bread dough,” which initially led them to believe it was an elastomeric polymer.
The Canadian government has said they found the blobs along 28 miles of coastline
However, he fears that most of the blobs have sunk underwater because it is denser than water. The Canadian government has said they found the blobs along 45 kilometers of coastline, according to The Guardian.
‘All we see is the stuff that washes up. “I suspect a lot of this stuff is at the bottom of the sea, being churned up by the comings and goings of the tide,” he told The Guardian.
‘This absolutely has no place in the environment. It is plastic pollution and what worries me is that because of its shape it could be mistaken for food by marine animals.”
But what he found funniest about the bizarre blobs was that it took so long for someone to contact a scientist.
‘It’s funny that no one thought to contact a pharmacy until very late. “Everyone had their own opinion and speculation, but no one really took a scientific and experimental position,” he told The Guardian.