Guardian: A sticky substance that has killed hundreds of seabirds could be a polymer often used to improve the performance of lubricating oil, it has emerged.
Professor Steve Rowland, an expert in pollution from Plymouth University, examined the substance found on one of the guillemots washed up on the south coast of the UK. He concluded that it is PIB polyisobutene which is used in products ranging from adhesives to sealants and chewing gum. The makeup of the samples he and his team have analysed suggests...