Ep19. Microplastics in coffee with Alex Dainis

Chris and Doran are joined by Dr. Alex Dainis, a professional science communicator. We first met Alex through her work on "Chemistry Shorts", videos about sub-disciplines of chemistry supported by the Dreyfus foundation.

Today's paper is about microplastics. These are microscopic pieces of polymer that show up everywhere. In the case in single-serve coffee preparations. Alex is the perfect guest to discuss this because its a topic that is becoming increasingly studied, but to date we simply don't know all that much about whether they are bad for you. We get into that and much, much more. I hope you enjoy!

The paper:

Pouring hot water through drip bags releases thousands of microplastics into coffee

Food Chem., 2023, 415, 135717

⁠https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135717

The article can be found in coffee literature library: ⁠⁠⁠https://pages.uoregon.edu/chendon/coffee_literature/coffee_lit_rev/⁠⁠⁠

About Dr. Dainis: Blimp lover. She has a PhD in genetics from Stanford but is also trained in film and television. After she finished her PhD she founded Helicase media while also being a professional science communicator.

Introduction preamble: Pulp Fiction.