‘The first thing I did was poke it’: Canada beach blobs mystery solved by chemists

When the chemist Chris Kozak finally got his hands on a sample of the mysterious blobs that recently washed up on the shores of Newfoundland’s beaches, Project Unknown Glob officially began.

At his disposal, Kozak and a team of graduate students had the “gorgeous” new science building and “world-class facilities” of Newfoundland’s Memorial University to run a battery of tests on the white, doughy blob.

“The first thing I did was poke it and smell it,” he said.

However simple, the initial observations gave Kozak a wealth of information to work with.

Related: Mysterious gooey blobs washed up on Canada beaches baffle experts

“By poking it, we could tell it was definitely rubbery, like overworked bread dough. We suspected it was an elastomer polymer. And the smell coming off was a bit like walking through the solvent aisle in your hardware store.”

For more than a month, residents of Canada’s easternmost province have tried to understand the source of hundreds of the pale, gooey masses which resemble the dough used to make toutons, a Newfoundland fried delicacy. Some of the blobs were as large as dinner plates.

The sample was provided by Hilary Corlett, an assistant professor with Memorial University’s earth sciences department, who travelled to Placentia Bay to gather samples. Her suspicion was that the blobs were man-made.

Kozak’s team’s initially hypothesized the blobs were a polyurethane foam used for insulating boats in the fishing industry. But when Kozak ran tests looking for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen – all of which appear in polyurethane – no nitrogen was present. Nor did he find any sulphur, eliminating both polyurethane and any possible natural materials.

That initial finding diverged from what Canada’s environment ministry said last month, when it suggested in a news release that the material could be plant-based.

Next, Kozak conducted infrared spectroscopy and found chemical bonds consistent with polyvinyl acetate, often used as an adhesive in the shipping industry.

But a mass spectrometry test, conducted on 6 November, also found the substance had characteristics of synthetic rubber.

“I did eight different tests, and they all point towards something synthetic,” said Kozak.

That new finding supported the team’s theory that the material was most likely a butyl rubber PVA composite, used in the oil and gas industry to clean out the pipes that feed oil into tankers.

The explanation put to the rest a mystery that had baffled both residents and experts.

“It’s funny that no one thought to reach out to a chemist until very late. Everyone had their own opinions and speculation, but no one was really taking a scientific and experimental point of view,” said Kozak.

But other characteristics of the blobs have worried Kozak. While it isn’t toxic and is safe to handle in its cured form, the substance is denser than water, meaning most of it has sunk to the depths of the Atlantic.

The Canadian coast guard has previously told residents the blobs were found on at least 28 miles of coastline.

“All we are seeing is the stuff that’s being washed ashore. I suspect a lot of this stuff is at the bottom of the sea and being churned up by the comings and goings of the tide,” said Kozak. “This definitely does not belong in the environment. It’s plastic pollution and what worries me is that because of its shape, it could be mistaken by marine wildlife for food.”

Kozak has reached out to the federal government with his findings, but not yet received a response.

A spokesperson from the ministry of environment previously told the Guardian it took pollution incidents and threats to the environment “very seriously” and if officers find evidence of a possible violation of federal environmental legislation, “they will take appropriate action”. Fines under the fisheries act can reach C$6m for corporations found to have released harmful substances into the water.

Kozak said said the nature and scale of the discharge suggest the material has industrial origins.

“I’m happy to be able to give residents peace of mind as to what it is. And now they know, they can find out where it comes from and who is responsible,” he said.

“Industry is important for development of this province, but at the same time, industry also can leave a very dire environmental footprint”