Minutiae

“There’s something in the very small minutiae of life that tells us something about the big, big picture that we see every day all over the place, and so I think the more specific and creative and revelatory you are in the micro, the more powerful the macro will be.”

— Philip Seymour Hoffman

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff ... and It’s All Small Stuff by Dr. Richard Carlson is a book I read years ago in one of my endless attempts to reduce my stress level It made a lot of sense. From his advice, “Choose Your Battles Wisely” is the phrase that has stuck with me. In raising kids or negotiating work situations, I use this measure to ask myself if I want to die on the hill of the conflict, or live another day in peace. This has served me to make better life choices.

After all, if we get caught up in the small stuff, we can get distracted from the bigger picture ... and lose sight of our ultimate goals.

Well, most of the time.

Thankfully there are some of you who have dedicated your work to the micro-level of science – the real (actual) small stuff – in order to attain real big picture results. This issue highlights products, innovations and ideas that take filtration to the next level ... down. Specifically, capturing harmful microscopic nanoparticles in air, gas and water from washing machines (p. 11), tainted air (p. 17), commercial gas (p. 21) and coal liquefaction (p. 38), and more.

Each article analyzes capturing harmful toxins and particles in filtration for the well-being of people, oh, and the planet. In fact, COVID-19 – invisible enemy #1 of 2020 – proved to be a compelling mass public jolt into why this is so important, discussed more in “Air Quality: Define to Defend” (p. 34). Despite our best efforts (or are they?), indoor air quality is failing most of us. From wildfires, toxins, bacteria to allergens, our environments are really not built for best air quality situations. They are designed for cost efficiency. Define to Defend’s author says, “While the historic call for adhering to financial responsibilities always hovers in our minds, our social responsibility to avail the best IAQ is equally important. Enhancing indoor IAQ requires policies, relevant standards, and roadmaps to ensure implementation and compliance are entwined, not just the moral forces of the general public.”

And, don’t get me started on oceanic microplastics, a topic of such minutiae that it is not registering in the general public mindset. Why is that? Regardless, some of us do view the details differently to make better choices. Thankfully, filtration expert heroes are taking their experiences and offering us hope that we can battle the microscopic bad guys – a wise and worthy battle – and make our world cleaner for the next gen. In this case only, we should be sweating the small stuff ... every day!

Caryn Smith

Chief Content Officer & Publisher, INDA Media, IFN

International Filtration News Editorial Advisory Board

R. Vijayakumar, Ph.D., Chair

AERFIL

Tel: +1 315-506-6883

Email: vijay@aerfil.com

Rahul Bharadwaj, Ph.D.

Lydall Performance Materials

Tel: +1 603-953-6318

Email: rbharadwaj@lydall.com

Tom Justice, CAFS, NCT

ZENE, LLC Filtration

Tel: 757-378-3857

Email: justfilter@yahoo.com

James J. Joseph

Joseph Marketing

Tel/Fax: +1 757-565-1549

Emai: josephmarketing120@gmail.com

Wenping Li, Ph.D.

Agriltech Research Company

Tel: +1 337-421-6345

Email: wenpingl@agrilectric.com

Ernest Mayer, Ph.D.

E. Mayer Filtration Consulting, LLC

Tel: +1 302-981-8060

Email: ernestmayer6@gmail.com

Robert W. McIlvaine

The McIlvaine Company

Tel: +1 847-784-0013

Email: rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com

Thad Ptak, Ph.D.

TJ Ptak & Associates

Tel: +1 414-514-8937

Email: thadptak@hotmail.com

International Filtration News is published by INDA Media, the B2B publishing arm of INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry. +1 919.459.3700 info@filtnews.com | www.filtnews.com News & Press Releases to IFNNews@inda.media

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Mission

International Filtration News covers the topics and technologies that will shape the future of filtration and separation. Using subject matter experts from all parts of the industry, IFN is the leading source for the dialogues, debates and innovations across the full spectrum of filtration and separation applications and processes.

If you would like to utilize your expertise to help shape the content in the IFN , consider applying for the IFN Editorial Advisory Board. We welcome participation through input on trends and innovations, new story ideas and overall thought leadership. This is a collaborative board that meets quarterly to discuss the state of the industry. Send an email to Caryn Smith at csmith@inda.org for consideration.