When Oil Stains Turn Green

Today when the early sun had risen I'd gone for a walk and noticed something I've never seen before. In every empty parking spot every oil stain that was left behind by a previously parked car had turned green like pea soup. Looks like plankton on a seaboard. That got me to worrying about atmospheric conditions then decided to not trouble myself with what I could not answer. As I walked I could see that this green effect was true for every oil stain there was in all the parking lots. So I decided to go ask a professional. At the automotive shop the mechanic could barely speak English but he told me with difficulty that it was caused by pollen and not to worry because he sees this happen every year. I later researched this on Google but couldn't find anything at all about oil spots that turn green. Was the mechanic right?

reply to post by Asynchrony


We have yellow pollen all over the place this time of year. From the Canary Island Pine trees. I'll have to go look at oil stains…


BRB…

Edit to add: Sure enough the parking lot oil stains have a greenish tint to them. You'll have to take my word on that, I don't do personal photos. Difficult to figure that since blue and yellow make green. Oil is not blue.

colors

Over to the scientists.

Asynchrony
Today when the early sun had risen I'd gone for a walk and noticed something I've never seen before. In every empty parking spot every oil stain that was left behind by a previously parked car had turned green like pea soup. Looks like plankton on a seaboard. That got me to worrying about atmospheric conditions then decided to not trouble myself with what I could not answer. As I walked I could see that this green effect was true for every oil stain there was in all the parking lots. So I decided to go ask a professional. At the automotive shop the mechanic could barely speak English but he told me with difficulty that it was caused by pollen and not to worry because he sees this happen every year. I later researched this on Google but couldn't find anything at all about oil spots that turn green. Was the mechanic right?

Maybe take a pic and post it?

So we can get a better idea/visual

reply to post by LightningStrikesHere


Maybe tomorrow but I'll get some pics up here.

Asynchrony
reply to post by LightningStrikesHere

 

Maybe tomorrow but I'll get some pics up here.

Well , i suppose we can wait ;-) but what if the discoloration Is not present tomorrow?

reply to post by LightningStrikesHere


Then there was nothing to worry about.

Asynchrony
reply to post by LightningStrikesHere

 

Then there was nothing to worry about.

Alright ,

reply to post by LightningStrikesHere


Actually, I took several pics out in the daylight sun & the camera just wouldn't pick up the green color, even with the brightest greens. In some places there's now a small percentage of yellow, like the color of pancrea.

Asynchrony
reply to post by LightningStrikesHere

 

Actually, I took several pics out in the daylight sun & the camera just wouldn't pick up the green color, even with the brightest greens. In some places there's now a small percentage of yellow, like the color of pancrea.

Hmmm interesting.. Well heck ! Thanks for giving it a go, at least you tried ty

reply to post by LightningStrikesHere


Some of those stains have now turned brown, like dirty oil.

Green "oil stain" -- it's called anti-freeze/coolant. Was it a dark, almost "glowing" green? If so, yep someone's car is leaking coolant. It's very poisonous to animals, as it tastes "sweet" to them. It'll kill a dog really fast, as one of our dogs died that way once.

If you car is leaking coolant, please do all us pet owners a favor and have it looked at by a mechanic!