Update after ‘mystery balls' close beaches
An analysis of small grey balls that washed up on popular beaches in Sydney's north has found the errant debris is largely made up of soap scum and cosmetics.
Nine swimming spots on Sydney's Northern Beaches, including at Dee Why, Manly, and North Narrabeen, were closed earlier this month due to the debris.
University of NSW chemistry professor Jon Beeves revealed on Wednesday that the marble-sized balls were largely made up of saturated fats and calcium.
'We found that they're mostly saturated fatty acids and calcium, so the fatty acids that you'd find in cleaning products or cosmetics, soaps,' he told the ABC.
The balls were also found to contain other small items, including pharmaceuticals and traces of animal faecal biomarkers.
Professor Beves said the balls were different to the ones found late last year at Coogee, in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Some of the city's most popular beaches were shuttered when black balls mysteriously washed up onto the shore.
The balls were earlier determined by Professor Beves to be made up of lumps of human faeces, drugs, and PFAS 'forever' chemicals.
'The ones that we found down at Coogee, they were majority, what looks like cooking oil and the similar sort of fatty acids that we found here,' he told the ABC.
'I guess what looked like diesel, which is why they were black. These ones on the North Shore are much simpler composition than the ones we found.'
Professor Beves said the more recent balls were made up of 'hydrophobic materials' commonly washed down the drain at home.
Repellent to water, the balls 'stick together like glue' to other compounds and end up in lumps commonly found in the sewer.
Earlier this month, the NSW Environmental Protection Agency said it was expanding its investigation into the cause of the debris balls.
The investigation will canvas possible land-based causes, such as Sydney Water's sewerage system, stormwater systems, as well as seaborne sources such as a cruise ships. 'We're also looking into potential illegal trade waste discharge into stormwater,' EPA Director of Operations Adam Gilligan said.
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