Tarballs are clumps of oil that can form from oil spills or natural sources and can travel long distances. They can be identified by their chemical markers and are considered pollutants. Tarballs can be harmful to animals and humans, causing skin irritation and other health problems. Removing tarballs requires manual collection or the use of cleanup crews and beach cleaning machines. In severe cases, contaminated sand may need to be removed and replaced with clean sand.
A tarball is a lump of altered oil from an oil spill or natural oil source, such as a deposit that seeps from the ocean floor. Tarballs occur in marine environments worldwide and can travel considerable distances with the current. You can determine the origins of a given tarball by testing the materials it contains, as tarballs will contain distinctive chemical markers depending on where the oil comes from. They are considered pollutants and can be a cause for concern when they appear in large numbers.
When oil interacts with seawater, it begins to degrade. Salt water and the beating sun both act on the chemicals in the oil to change its composition. The oil can turn into a smooth sheen that spreads across the surface of the water and can also emulsify into clumpy masses. As these masses begin to break up due to wave action, they form tars, small nuggets of oil, and trapped materials.
Over time, a tarball will solidify from the outside in. The outer surface can develop a thick, crunchy layer while the inside remains partially liquid and sticky. The tar balls float on the surface of the water due to the increased buoyancy due to the high salt content and can eventually wash up on beaches and coasts. Periodic tarballs are not uncommon, the result of small oil and fuel spills and seeps from the earth’s crust. In the wake of a major oil spill, tarballs can be present in significant numbers.
Animals and humans who step on the tarballs will find that the balls adhere to their feet or shoes as the crust opens and exposes the sticky interior. It can be difficult to wash off and the petroleum can damage your skin. Frequent exposures can cause rashes, hives and other signs of skin irritation. Tarball components can also include toxins from other sources that attach to the oil, making some tarballs more dangerous than others.
Removing the tar requires manually collecting the oil pellets for disposal, employing cleanup crews wearing appropriate safety gear, or using beach cleaning machines to comb the sand and extract the deposits. On a particularly contaminated beach, your best bet may be to use heavy equipment to remove the top layer of sand and then replace it with a new layer of clean sand from another source, such as a nearby beach.
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