You’re walking along the beach, the sand and the waves tickling your toes, when all of a sudden you feel something sticky on the bottom of your feet.
You look and notice a glob of black tar-looking substance on your foot. No big deal, right? But no matter what you do, the black sticky stuff just won’t come off.
If this has happened to you, fear not. I have a few tips and tricks for getting sticky black tar off the bottom of your foot.
What is Sticky Beach Tar?
First, let’s get to the bottom of what exactly that black tar is.
It probably won’t surprise you, but those black clumps on the beach are actually oil. Now it doesn’t necessarily mean those clumps of tar are from an oil spill.
In fact, thousands of gallons of oil naturally seep up from the depths of the ocean every day.
According to the folks at Heal the Bay, oil seeps “are a natural geological occurrence and are not caused by any human activity.” In California’s Santa Monica Bay alone, 420 gallons of oil (or 10 barrels) reach the surface every day. It only takes a few days for it to reach the shore.
What are Natural Oil Seeps?
We’re all familiar with the high-profile oil leaks from aging pipelines or crashed oil tankers, but nearly half of all oil that goes into the ocean comes from oil seeps on the seafloor.
An oil seep is when crude oil leaks out from cracks in the seafloor. All oil comes from buried fossils decaying over millions of years from heat and pressure. There is plenty of oil beneath the ocean surface, which is why you often see oil rigs dotting the view.
Natural oil seeps occur when there is a disturbance on the ocean floor. It could be caused by earthquakes, weather, tides, and currents removing enough sediment to leak the oil.
These seeps are found worldwide, but in the United States, most seeps are located off the coast of California, near Alaska, and in the Gulf of Mexico.
Here is a chart from a research paper published in 2003:
Although some estimates say that 160,000 tons of oil enter waters around North America every year, only a fraction of it comes ashore.
Unfortunately, these leaks have been going on for thousands of years and will continue to do so.
Are Beach Tar Balls from Oil Spills?
Possibly. As I said earlier, almost half of the oil that goes into the ocean comes from natural seeps. That still leaves a ton of oil that goes into the oil from spills and other disasters.
Just recently, more than 25,000 gallons of oil leaked into the waters off the coast of Orange County, California, after a pipeline connected to an offshore oil rig became damaged. It was so bad the 2021 Pacific Airshow had to be canceled. It’s likely that over the next few years, the oil will wash ashore as tar.
Wikipedia also has an incomplete list of confirmed oil spills if you’re curious about any spills in your area.
How are Tar Balls Formed?
Oil will initially look like a thin slick when it seeps out from a spill or natural seep. Over time, the oil will be spread apart and clumped together by the wind and waves.
Here are more details from the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration:
Initially, the lighter components of the oil evaporate much like a small gasoline or diesel spill. … At the same time, some crude oils mix with water to form an emulsion that often looks like chocolate pudding. This emulsion is much thicker and stickier than the original oil. Winds and waves continue to stretch and tear the oil patches into smaller pieces, or tar balls.
Currents can carry these balls for hundreds of miles before being washed ashore.
Sometimes the tar can get as large as a pancake, but they are mostly about the size of a coin.
Is Beach Tar Dangerous on Your Skin?
In short, not really.
Occasional contact with beach tar likely won’t result in any adverse health effects. However, oil does contain strong chemicals like hydrocarbons, which some people can be allergic to. Even minor contact for a short period of time can affect people with sensitive skin.
If you come in contact with oil at the beach, it’s important to wash it off as soon as possible. That leads us to probably why you’re here.
How to Get Beach Tar Off Your Skin?
So you’ve stepped on a small patch of oil, and now it’s stuck to your skin.
Scrape It Off
Don’t try to scrape it off with your nails! It will only make things worse and spread the oil to your fingers.
Instead, use a nearby rock or shell to get some of the excess tar off your foot. This is only the first step because it will absolutely not get all the tar off your skin.
Skip the Soap and Water
You may be tempted to wait until you get home, so you can stick your foot in the shower and scrub it with soap.
Nope.
Soap and water do nothing to get it off. You should, of course, clean the area thoroughly with soap and water after the tar is completely removed, though.
Grab Some Oil
The only way to fight oil is with oil. I’m not talking about crude oil, though; I’m talking about baby oil, coconut oil, canola oil, mineral oil, or any other kind of cooking oil.
Oil was the method that worked best for me after stepping on a big glob of tar. Just a little bit of vegetable oil and some paper towels helped get most of the tar off.
Use Sunscreen
If you’re at the beach, you probably won’t have any cooking oil. In that case, grab your sunscreen and spray it liberally on the tar. Because most sunscreens are oil-based, it will help get rid of that sticky black stuff.
Opt for a Pumice Stone
A pumice stone is a great way to take care of your feet in general. Formed when water and lava mix, pumice stones are excellent beauty tools that will help get rid of dead skin on your feet and soften calluses.
They will also get any tar residue off your foot after you’ve done everything you can to clean your foot.
Leave a Reply