Beachcombing
A dangerous guide to beachcombing
BY GEORGE WINTER
What not to touch at the seaside
The mid-19th century rise of
oceanography as a scientific discipline is partly attributable to the Victorian
craze for beachcombing – a trend that continues to this day.
But the flotsam and jetsam that washed up on Victorian beaches
were not freighted with the same chemical hazards that await today’s treasure
hunters.
Why the concern?
In August this year, a
41-year-old woman picked up an object from a beach on the banks of the Elbe,
near Hamburg, Germany, mistaking it for amber.
She put it in her jacket pocket, laid the jacket down… and her
pocket combusted.
The object was white phosphorus from a second world war
incendiary bomb.
What is white phosphorus?
White phosphorus is an allotrope of phosphorus in a tetrahedral
structure with size single P–P bonds.
It’s
a translucent, waxy solid that becomes yellow when exposed to light – which is
why the beachcomber misidentified it.
It’s
nasty stuff, which self-ignites on contact with air, is highly corrosive, burns
intensely and reacts with water (it needs to be extinguished with sand).
Phosphorus
oxidises at any temperature above 30°C, forming phosphorus pentoxide – as the
video below demonstrates.
Today its use is banned as an incendiary weapon, although it is
still widely used to create smoke screens.
Is this the first time someone had
made this mistake?
No. There have been at least
four cases of white phosphorus burns on beachcombers around the Baltic
sea.
All had confused white phosphorus ammunition residues with amber
while walking on beaches at the Baltic Sea coast, sustaining serious burns
after placing clots of phosphorus in their trouser pockets.
The problem isn’t only limited to the Baltic. A 40-year-old
woman sustained full-thickness burns from white phosphorus picked up on a Tel
Aviv beach in Israel.
Has phosphorus ever been found in
the UK?
Yes. In 1995 more than 4500
incendiary bombs – made of phosphorus, benzene and cellulose – washed up on
beaches around Scotland’s west coast.
They were part of an estimated million tons of munitions dumped
between 1945 and 1976 by the Ministry of Defence in Beaufort’s Dyke, an
underwater trench between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
It was speculated that the munitions were disturbed by work on
an undersea gas link between the two countries.
What other hazards are on UK
beaches?
The inaugural issue of
the Chemical Hazard
and Poisons Report by the Health Protection Agency described an
incident which began on 20 January 2003, when beaches in the vicinity of
Bridport, Dorset, yielded ‘large numbers of vials marked “Anthrax vaccine”
[and] about 100 vials of brown liquid labelled Dimercaptopropanol [sic].’
The Chemical Incident Response Service advised that whereas the
vaccine (expiry date 1999) would be harmless following skin contact, the
2,3-dimercaptopropanol (C3H8OS2) would be an
irritant.
What is 2,3-dimercaptopropanol?
Also known as British
Anti-Lewisite (BAL), it was developed in Britain during the second world war as
an antidote for an arsenic-based chemical warfare agent, lewisite.
However, although BAL is mainly used today as a chelating agent
to treat metal poisoning – for example, arsenic, mercury, lead, antimony.
Anything else?
The HPA report, in a
retrospective survey of major incidents involving packaged goods being lost
overboard in British waters, noted that in February 1990 the freighter Fathulkhair lost
six canisters of potassium cyanide (KCN), which washed ashore on Kent and
Sussex beaches.
KCN appears as white amorphous lumps or a crystalline mass;
smells faintly of bitter almonds; and is toxic by skin absorption through open
wounds or by ingestion.
Another problem is the rise of fatbergs.
What are fatbergs?
According to a report in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, the 15
hazardous and noxious substances most often transported in bulk through
European waters include palm and other vegetable oils, animal fat, methanol,
benzene and its mixtures, sodium hydroxide solution, ammonia and sulphuric
acid.
Palm oil comes from the plant Elaeis guineensis, and the world’s largest
producer is Malaysia.
Palm oil is semi-solid at room temperature and has a balanced
ratio of unsaturated and fatty acids, containing 40% oleic acid (C18H34O2 monounsaturated
fatty acid), 10% linoleic acid (C18H32O2polyunsaturated
fatty acid), 45% palmitic acid (C16H32O2) and
5% stearic acid (C18H36O2 saturated fatty
acid).
Palm oil residues may be washed from ships’ cargo tanks.
Unfortunately, fats are hydrophobic, so tend to form together
and wash up on beaches.
While not as dangerous as old munitions, they can be fatal if
ingested by animals – making them a hazard for dog walkers.
How can I stay safe at the beach?
Don’t go around picking up
strange objects.
If you see something that you think might be dangerous, keep
clear and inform the local authorities – usually the council or coastguard.
If you are collecting items, make sure you take suitable
precautions.
For example, amber hunters should collect and store their
samples in a steel bucket filled with water or sand, which will prevent the
sample from igniting.
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/a-dangerous-guide-to-beachcombing/3008056.article
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