Barrels of industrial waste dumped into the Pacific Ocean decades ago are still affecting the deep seafloor off the Los Angeles coast, a new study has found.

The discarded barrels, which have for years been encircled by mysterious white halos, have likely been leaking a caustic alkaline waste product into the marine environment, according to the study, published on Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus.

Scientists had initially linked the halos, observed in images captured in 2020, to the toxic pesticide DDT, whose manufacturing processes unleashed copious amounts of acidic waste into the ocean from the 1930s through the 1970s.

Although DDT manufacturing did produce alkaline byproducts in addition to the acidic waste, other major industries such as oil refining generated significant alkaline residuals as well, the study authors noted.

“One of the main waste........

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