Thousands of tar balls, like the one pictured, closed Sydney beaches in October. Photo: Randwick City Council
It all started when thousands of sticky, foul-smelling round blobs started washing ashore around Sydney. In response, eight beaches, including Bondi, were closed for a massive cleanup operation in October. Though the beaches eventually reopened, the mystery remained – what were those little round balls? That mystery has apparently been solved.
At first, the black spheres were thought to be tar balls – clumps of oil, debris, water and other pollutants. Initial testing by the Environment Protection Authority found them to be made up of fatty acids, chemicals found in cleaning and cosmetic products, and some fuel oil. In response, NSW Maritime downgraded the risk associated with the balls, which allowed beaches to reopen. NSW Maritime executive director Mark Hutchings’ advice to the public at the time was, “They are not harmful when on the ground, but should not be touched or picked up.”
That was far from the end of the story for researchers at the University of New South Wales Science, though. In conjunction with UNSW’s Mark Wainwright Analytical Center (MWAC), DCCEEW Environmental Forensics, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), and Randwick Council, researchers continued to analyze the spheres with a wide variety of methods. Using radiocarbon dating, Elemental analysis, X-ray fluorescence, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and mass spectronomy, they found that the composition of the balls was far more gross than anyone had initially imagined.
“Our analyses show that the material is not natural and cannot be attributed solely to an oil spill,” said associate Professor Jon Beves, who led the investigation. “It is most consistent with human generated waste.” Later on, he elaborated that, “We found the sticky spheres contained hundreds of different components, including molecules that derive from cooking oil and soap scum, PFAS chemicals, steroidal compounds, antihypertensive medications, pesticides, and veterinary drugs.” In addition, he told 9News that they found human fecal waste and recreational drugs, including THC and methamphetamine.
The researchers explained that the fats, oils, and high calcium levels in the spheres indicated they could be related to fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposits found in sewage systems. “Detecting markers of human fecal waste — like coprostanol — alongside recreational drugs like THC and industrial PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ pointed us to sewage and other sources of urban effluent as the most consistent origins,” explained Professor William Alexander Donald, an analytical chemist involved in the research.
However, with no known reports of issues from nearby Sydney water plants, where the blobs actually came from remains a mystery.
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