Lab tests confirm petroleum substance on Polish Baltic beaches poses no health threat

Laboratory analysis and health risks

Laboratory tests conducted in Gdańsk on black lumps washed ashore along northern Poland confirmed the material is petroleum-derived, though its precise composition remains undetermined. Samples collected from beaches across the Baltic coastline showed high levels of external contamination from sand and organic debris, preventing chemists from identifying the exact product. Director of the Maritime Office in Słupsk, Anna Sędzińska, announced on Friday that the maritime authority will not commission additional testing due to the high costs involved and the technical limitations identified by the laboratory. The analysis determined that short-term physical contact with the unidentified oily substance poses no direct threat to human life or health. Despite the absence of an acute health hazard, regional authorities classify the material as hazardous waste that requires specialized industrial disposal.

We will not order additional tests. It would involve a large cost, and the laboratory answered us that an unambiguous determination of what this pollution is remains impossible because the substance is dirty. We took it from the beach.

Cleanup operations across the coastline

The pollution affected an estimated 50-kilometer stretch of the Baltic shore, spanning from Rowy in Pomeranian Voivodeship to Wicie in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Coastal protection crews began gathering the black deposits into specialized storage bags earlier in the week, moving the collected waste to a designated facility managed by the Maritime Office. Sanitation workers completed the primary cleanup in the town of Ustka and adjacent rural municipal beaches on Thursday, allowing local officials to rescind an entry ban that had been in place since Tuesday. Maritime officials noted that complete eradication of the residue is technically impossible on open stretches, warning visitors that isolated fragments measuring roughly the size of peas may still be scattered across the sand.

Extended monitoring and waste management

The Maritime Office originally intended to conclude coastal cleanup efforts on Friday, but extended operations across several less accessible shorelines where deposits remain. Regional authorities intend to maintain active coastal monitoring for several weeks, as wave action could deposit further residue from offshore waters. Once the total volume of gathered material is documented at the Słupsk holding site, maritime officials will contract a specialized disposal facility to process the hazardous waste.

We assume that here and there this substance may appear at a later time, the sea may still wash it ashore. We will monitor this situation. I think for a few more weeks. Only after that time, when we know the amount of collected waste, will we look for a plant to dispose of it. Until then, it will remain on our premises.

Investigation into vessel discharges

Maritime authorities continue to investigate the origin of the spillage, focusing on the possibility of an illegal offshore tank-cleaning operation by a commercial vessel. Inspectors obtained sample residue from a suspected ship operating in the Baltic Sea, though officials acknowledge that establishing a definitive chemical match with the beach specimens is improbable. Director Sędzińska indicated that the administrative inquiry will likely conclude without identifying a legally culpable party due to sample degradation. The initial contamination came to light on Saturday, 26 September, when walkers in Ustka discovered sticky black lumps along the waterline, prompting the initial municipal warnings published on 28 September.