Stories

   

The Phoenix 14th June 2024
 
 
 
From Your Presidents Desk………..

 

 


President Kim was inducted on 29th June at our Club Changeover held at Wentworthville Leagues Club as a precursor to District 9685 Changeover.
 
i would especially like to thank DGE Niranjan Deodar for sharing a glimpse of his vision which he presented in full at the district changeover.
 
thank you so
much to the members and partners who attended.
 
my theme this year is “Adventure in Service”.
 
I look forward to leading our club and working with you all.
 
 
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Rotary Youth Exchange
This Week's Meeting
This Week's Meeting Is All About Rotary Youth Exchange
I don't know how much you know about Rotary Youth Exchange, but this meeting will be a great chance for you to find out.  Personally, I have hosted students from France, Brazil, Chile, Switzerland and Italy.  Five with Rotary Youth Exchange and two with AFS. It is a very rewarding experience and you make lifelong friendships with both the students and their families.  You don't have to be a family to host, single people can do it too, so can grandparents - as long as you are prepared to think young.  
 
This week, we are hoping that PDG Susan Wakefield will speak to us about Youth Exchange.  However, as she has not been very well, she will be assisted by Katie Graham, who is a past exchange student and a member of the Youth Exchange Committee.  So get your questions ready, it will be a great opportunity to learn more about Youth Exchange.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Katie went on Rotary Youth Exchange in 2012 to Denmark sponsored by North Rocks Rotary Club.

After completeing a Bachelor of Communications, and beginning her career in marketing at a construction firm, she joined the Discrict 9685 Youth Exchange Committee five years ago as Marketing Officer and a Zone Coordinator for the North Shore and Beaches.

 
 

 
 

Club and District Changeover

President Tony invites all members and their guests to our Club and District Changeover
 
 
DATE:  Saturday 29th June 2024
VENUE:  Wentworthville Leagues Club
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Club Changeover    
5.00 pm - 6 pm in a meeting room at Wenty Leagues
 
Tony to Kim 
RSVP by 26/5/2024 
District changeover Register as soon as you can
6:30pm  for 7pm
From Our Environment Director
STUDY LINKS MICROPLASTICS TO HUMAN HEALTH PROBLEMS
- But there is still a lot we don't know.
PUBLISHED MARCH 19, 2024
AUTHORS
 

Mark Patrick Taylor

Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University

 
 
 

Scott P. Wilson

Research Director, Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AUSMAP); Honorary Senior Research Fellow, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University

A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health.

The study involved patients in Italy who had a condition called carotid artery plaque, where plaque builds up in arteries, potentially blocking blood flow. The researchers analysed plaque specimens from these patients.

They found those with carotid artery plaque who had microplastics and nanoplastics in their plaque had a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, or death (compared with carotid artery plaque patients who didn’t have any micro- or nanoplastics detected in their plaque specimens).

Importantly, the researchers didn’t find the micro- and nanoplastics caused the higher risk, only that it was correlated with it.

So, what are we to make of the new findings? And how does it fit with the broader evidence about microplastics in our environment and our bodies?

What are microplastics?

Microplastics are plastic particles less than five millimetres across. Nanoplastics are less than one micron in size (1,000 microns is equal to one millimetre). The precise size classifications are still a matter of debate.

Microplastics and nanoplastics are created when everyday products – including clothes, food and beverage packaging, home furnishings, plastic bags, toys and toiletries – degrade. Many personal care products contain microsplastics in the form of microbeads.

Plastic is also used widely in agriculture, and can degrade over time into microplastics and nanoplastics.

These particles are made up of common polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride. The constituent chemical of polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride, is considered carcinogenic by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Of course, the actual risk of harm depends on your level of exposure. As toxicologists are fond of saying, it’s the dose that makes the poison, so we need to be careful to not over-interpret emerging research.

A closer look at the study

This new study in the New England Journal of Medicine was a small cohort, initially comprising 304 patients. But only 257 completed the follow-up part of the study 34 months later.

The study had a number of limitations. The first is the findings related only to asymptomatic patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (a procedure to remove carotid artery plaque). This means the findings might not be applicable to the wider population.

The authors also point out that while exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics has been likely increasing in recent decades, heart disease rates have been falling.

That said, the fact so many people in the study had detectable levels of microplastics in their body is notable. The researchers found detectable levels of polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride (two types of plastic) in excised carotid plaque from 58% and 12% of patients, respectively.

These patients were more likely to be younger men with diabetes or heart disease and a history of smoking. There was no substantive difference in where the patients lived.

Inflammation markers in plaque samples were more elevated in patients with detectable levels of microplastics and nanoplastics versus those without.

 

Microplastics are created when everyday products degrade. JS14/Shutterstock

And, then there’s the headline finding: patients with microplastics and nanoplastics in their plaque had a higher risk of having what doctors call “a primary end point event” (non-fatal heart attack, non-fatal stroke, or death from any cause) than those who did not present with microplastics and nanoplastics in their plaque.

The authors of the study note their results “do not prove causality”.

However, it would be remiss not to be cautious. The history of environmental health is replete with examples of what were initially considered suspect chemicals that avoided proper regulation because of what the US National Research Council refers to as the “untested-chemical assumption”. This assumption arises where there is an absence of research demonstrating adverse effects, which obviates the requirement for regulatory action.

In general, more research is required to find out whether or not microplastics cause harm to human health. Until this evidence exists, we should adopt the precautionary principle; absence of evidence should not be taken as evidence of absence.

Global and local action

Exposure to microplastics in our home, work and outdoor environments is inevitable. Governments across the globe have started to acknowledge we must intervene. The Global Plastics Treaty will be enacted by 175 nations from 2025. The treaty is designed, among other things, to limit microplastic exposure globally. Burdens are greatest especially in children and especially those in low-middle income nations. In Australia, legislation ending single use plastics will help. So too will the increased rollout of container deposit schemes that include plastic bottles.

Microplastics pollution is an area that requires a collaborative approach between researchers, civil societies, industry and government. We believe the formation of a “microplastics national council” would help formulate and co-ordinate strategies to tackle this issue.

Little things matter. Small actions by individuals can also translate to significant overall environmental and human health benefits.

Choosing natural materials, fabrics, and utensils not made of plastic and disposing of waste thoughtfully and appropriately – including recycling wherever possible – is helpful.
 


 
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Trees For Dudley

You all know about the passing of Dudley Mercer some 7 months ago. This was a sad loss to his family, the Rotary Community and his many friends. At the time Marilyn received countless condolences and regards as to Dudley’s contributions to his community and how much he will be missed. Many donations for a memorial were received from Past District Governors and Rotary Clubs he had been involved with from across Queensland Rotary District. At the time our club was organising the memorial for another passed member so Marilyn agreed it would be a good idea to hold Dudley’s gifts for the time being as she also wanted to talk with Myall Lakes Council and Myall Koala and Environmental Group to decide on the best place for Dudley’s trees to be planted.

Now the time has come to ask for donations from our club members and friends who would like to remember Dudley in this way. The trees will be planted in and around the Tea Gardens/ Hawks Nest region where Dudley and Marilyn spent many happy years. A walkway is to be built by Myall Lakes Council along the foreshore of Myall lakes where the trees are to be planted, we thought a good idea would be to install a “Buddy Bench” in Dudley’s and our club’s name along this walkway.

The Grove of Trees memorial has been approved by the Board so now we are looking for those of you who would like to honour Dudley and the many wonderful deeds he did. A lot of members have already expressed a wish to donate.

Each tree costs $5. Once the trees have been planted the clubs, donors and his family will be given a certificate of thanks in his name.

If you would like to be part of this please pay your money into the working account and the Environment Committee will organise the details. You are welcome to donate as many trees as you wish.

BSB 032-553 Charity A/C 114 346 Please put your name and Trees in the description

Thank you for your attention to this request.

News of Members
 
Lucian Keegel  
 
 
Outside Aldi at Katoomba raising money for the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At Katoomba Hospital raising much needed funds.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Barbara Parkin 
 
 
 
 
Celebrating Mother's Day at in Kenya with her KINI kids.
 
 
 
 
 
We think our roads are bad, look what she puts up with more often than not.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Our Skies This Month
The world has been looking to the sky this month as a powerful solar storm has been producing colourful light shows at unusual latitudes. The strongest solar storm in more than two decades struck earth, triggering spectacular auroras.
 
Enjoy learning more about this phenomenon:
 
Have you heard of the1859 Carrington Event? It was the largest recorded Geomagnetic storm.
 
From May 3 to May 9 2024, NASA observed 82 notable solar flares, mainly from two active regions on the Sun.  Eight of these flares were X-class, with the strongest peaking at X5.8. On May 14, the Sun emitted an even larger flare (X8.7), the largest of Solar Cycle 25.
  1. Geomagnetic Storm: The associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) reached Earth, creating a long-lasting geomagnetic storm with a rating of G5 (the highest level) on the geomagnetic storm scale. This storm hadn’t been seen since 2003.

  2. Auroras: Brilliant auroras were visible globally due to the storm’s impact on Earth’s magnetic field. It’s one of the strongest displays of auroras in the past 500 years.

  3. Solar Maximum: Interestingly, the Sun’s current activity cycle, known as Solar Cycle 25, is predicted to peak between January and October 2024, one year earlier than previously estimated

A couple of links explaining Geomagnetic storms and solar flares:
 
Ian Stuart from Rotary Matters on Triple H 100.1
 
Ian Stuart from Turramurra Rotary Club is the presenter of Rotary Matters on community radio station Triple H 101.1 every Friday at 3.00pm. Podcasts of each week’s program can be found on the Rotary Matters Australia Facebook page soon after the program goes to air. Ian reminds us to be in touch with him if our club has any interesting stories to share on Rotary Matters.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Laughter is the best Medicine
How Long Till Its Gone?
From the Editor
My apologies for the formatting of this newsletter.  Clubrunner is the most appalling program to try to do any desktop publishing.  Everything moves around, big gaps appear from nowhere and even though I save, editing just doesn't stick.  But, unless I wan't to make new distribution lists in another program, I'm stuck with Clubrunner.  It is antiquated and totally non-intuitive.
 
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