Surfactants

May 3

I am thankful for surfactants. "What?" you say? The chemist in me is coming out, but bear with me. Surfactants are substances that lower the surface tension of a liquid. The most common surfactants are detergents. In medicine, surfactants are important for maintaining the integrity of our lungs. Two of these surfactants are lecithin (L), the major constituent of which is phosphatidyl choline, and phosphatidyl glycerol (PG). When I was working in a hospital clinical lab as a clinical chemist, I set up methods for the analysis of L and PG in maternal amnotic fluid to determine the adequacy of surfactant levels in neonates. Newborns, generally premature babies, that have inadequate levels of surfactant are at risk for developing infant respiratory distress syndrome after birth, which occurs in 1% of newborns and is the leading cause of newborn death. Thus, amniotic fluide monitoring in mothers is an indication of the lung status of the neonate and can improve the likelihood of a baby with mature lungs. If surfactant is low, steroids can be given to the mother during her pregnancy to improve the outcome.

I used to demonstrate to my students how surfactants work by putting a drop on water on a non stick surface such as parafin and show that the water forms a convex half droplet due to the surface tension of the water molecules sticking to one another. When surfactant is added to the water, the water spreads out into a film because the surface tension is broken by the surfactant.  A favorate surfactant of many people is the bubble bath.  The agitation of the water combined with the presence of the surfactant, which forms small droplets of water coated with surfactant, produce the foaminess of the bubble bath. These small droplets are called micelles.

I suppose the title of today's blog could have been Reduction in Tension, or something similar, but I stuck with the chemical term. Sometimes if there is tension between people, we are in need of a "surfactant" to ease that surface tension. Such a "surfactant" could include common interests, getting together to discuss the differences, listening to music, playing or watching sports, mutual forgiveness, or prayer.

Today's photo is of sea foam taken at the beach in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Sea foam is created by the combination of the agitation produced by the ocean waves and dissolved organic matter from the presence of salts, proteins, fats, dead algae and the normal decay of things in the ocean. It can also be from oil spills or pollution, however, white sea foam is usually from the non-pollution related causes. Sea foam is generally quite harmless. Very large sea foams, being several meters thick have occurred in different places such as New South Wales and Australia in the not too distant past.

Just for fun, here's a video of the sea foam I took. I like they way it jiggles but it also reminds me of a science fiction movie like The Blob!

May 3b

bubble baths

the girls take bubble baths

i know they all like that

but a guy would never be caught

in such a bubbled vat

for me though

i have a different slant

i take my baths not with bubbles

but with some surfactant.

© rt tulley