skio evening! bday67 deli dinner!

"You had an event at the UGA Skidaway Island Institute of Oceanography?"

I did! They've recently started up their "Evenings At Skidaway" lecture series, having paused it during the Covid-19 pandemic. The one tonight reminded me of my doctoral work with its title: "Microplastics, Macro Problems: How Tiny Plastics Impact Our Health".

"Yes, that is quite a mouthful, too! How well was it attended?"

Surprisingly well! Perhaps having it there on Skidaway Island, home of so many retired scientists and others from big corporations in the northeastern states, helped draw in the audience. I noticed afterward that hardly anyone was going back toward town over the Diamond Causeway with me. I saw some familiar faces in the crowd of folks who support a wide range of the cultural arts in Savannah, kinda sorta like I do. The difference is I support primarily with my presence, as a volunteer or audience member; these people support from the audience, but also with sponsorships.

"I see."

All told, there were 40 to 50 folks there for the reception and talk by Dr. Jay Brandes. This was his second lecture on this topic, though this one had a lot more emphasis on potential health concerns. I was one of the first ones there tonight. As I told Jackson Schroeder, the one in charge of this interface with the public, I came early to make sure I didn't get lost! I also thanked him for the gorgeous fruit - with nary a strawberry in sight!!! I had two helpings of the cantaloupe, pineapple, and grapes!

"Good for them! So many times you can't have any of the fruit because of the presence of strawberries. I realize a lot of folks like them, but there are a surprising number who are allergic, like you are."

Right? I was so pleased with that! Overall, I was quite pleased with the lecture, too, as I learned something new. Everyone talks about microplastics and much of the blame gets shifted onto plastic bags and plastic bottles, but those aren't the major culprit. Textiles are. Over 70 % of the microplastics polluting our water and our air are from clothing made of nylons, rayons, polyesters, polyvinyl chlorides, and blends that incorporate those synthetics with natural fibers. Our comfortable clothing is going to kill us!

"That sounds a bit overly dramatic, dear."

Yes, a little, but I did that for emphasis. I had thought that microplastics were spherical entities, but it turns out that the vast majority are actually fibrous. They are tiny little fibers that we breathe in, tiny little fibers that we drink in our beverages, tiny little fibers that we eat in our foods, tiny little fibers that have been found in arterial plaques in carotid arteries of humans for the past decade... and no doubt in plaques lining the arteries in other fauna on Earth.

"Wow. I bet that alarmed a lot of folks there."

It did, but not in the right way. The reaction should have been 'how do we stop the manufacture of that fabric for clothing'. The real reaction, though, was 'how do we stop having microplastics in the water we drink'. They missed the point.

"That point being...?"

Polyesters have been used in textiles since the 1960's, at the very least. That means those fabrics have been on this planet, shedding fibers, for at least six decades. Those microplastic fibers have been shed from the time of manufacture to the making of the clothing and wearing of the clothing and laundering of the clothing. Just because we didn't know about the problem of microplastics existing until twenty years ago is not germane. Microplastics have been with us for three generations now, or more. Nothing we do now to filter them from the water or air in our homes is going to be of benefit. Folks just don't seem to get that. Not even Dr. Brandes seemed to understand that. He talked of using the Millipore filter in his laboratory to clean his drinking water, but that only pertains to now, not the many years of his life that he didn't have one of those scientific tools at hand.

"Oh. Oh! It's like the whole thing with the coronavirus. The general public didn't understand that the alien beast was everywhere, because the general public doesn't understand about things they cannot see."

Exactly. The true emphasis on tonight's lecture was to encourage research into any effects, ill or beneficial, that microplastics may be causing humans. Dr. Brandes emphasized that his specialty was not in that area; he was simply presenting some food for thought. Those last are my words, not his. I'm hoping some of those in the audience are grandparents of future scientists that can be part of that type of research. We need that.

"Heard. Oh, you aren't done yet, are you? You said something about dinner?"

I did! I knew I had ten bucks of Deli Dollars at Jason's Deli, so I swung in there on the way home. I ordered the Salad Bar, to-go... and paid absolutely nothing!!! "Happy birthday to me!" I told the cashier! Then I prepared broccoli salad atop spinach, southwest salad atop romaine, grabbed some red pepper and red onion rings, got a dollop of red pepper hummus, put three eggs into a to-go cup, and filled the paper bag with toast rounds. Yes, I did! That will definitely be three meals. Thanks for the bday67 treats!