Anti Pollution Masks

[sliq]

Hi all,

I've started to do the daily commute to work, cycling.

It's about 15.7km trip one way.

Has anyone any experience using anti pollution masks? is it worthwhile in Sydney's traffic?

Cheers

Michael

[keviny]

I've never seen people wearing polution masks in Syd...

Seen a few in Europe, and a few more in asia....

Unless you ride through the M5 tunnel i don't think it's really neccessary...

[Jimkos]

I have noticed a couple riders wearing masks in the city. I guess its up to the individual if they find there breathing/smelling pollution it may be useful.

[hewey]

If you want an anti-pollution mask, make sure you get something appropriate. Most people use dust masks from somewhere like Bunnings, which are great for relatively big particles such as sawdust, but do nothing for smaller particles like the air pollution you're concerned about. My step-dad used to test PPE to make sure it passed standards, so he tested gas masks, respirators, helmets, goggles etc. and whenever you saw one of those news articles with everyone wearing dust masks for air pollution he always commented they were useless for what they wanted. I think you'd need a proper respirator with air filters in it, and bugger that for riding.

[keviny]

Nice bit of insider information right there!

[hewey]

Okay so I talked to my step dad and asked him about this to confirm what I thought. Good thing I did because I was wrong!

Cheap no name dust masks with no certification can’t be relied upon, basically they’re an unknown quantity. P1 certified dust masks are good for particulate matter produced by mechanical generated particles (eg particulate car emissions), and P2 certified masks are good for this as well as thermally generated emissions (eg welding fumes). I asked about emissions such as carbon monoxide, and his reply was that even the filtered respirators like the one I posted above cannot remove it, as it is a naturally occurring gas in the air. I asked him what he would recommend, and he suggested the P1 masks would be best. They filter the majority of the nasties, they’re cheap (less than a dollar), easy to use and easy to come across. He’d only really recommend something more hardcore if the person was undergoing serious exposure to bad air (eg working somewhere like the M5 tunnel on a daily basis).

[sliq]

cheers, thanks for that Hewey