Tag: Air Quality

Where You Can Go in a Good Mask

With the pandemic causing so many deaths in countries around the world, face masks have become a symbol of this period of time. You can see many people wearing masks to protect them from the virus. From homemade masks, surgical masks to even rare masks such as those with N95 or P100 filters, you can see that wearing a mask is the new norm.

Thus, it is more crucial to understand that there are places where wearing a protective mask is an absolute must. Regular face masks won’t be enough in these areas. What you need are those masks with a high rating. Ratings like N95 are tested to remove more than 95% of PM2.5 particles whereas the N99 rating removes more than 99% of PM2.5 particles, which is very similar to the European Standard FFP2.

What are those masks with P100 filters?

As we all know, masks have filters that are rated based on how much particulate matter they can efficiently block. With a P100 rating, these masks would be able to block 99.9% of particles 0.3 microns or larger. For instance, there are gas masks with P100 ratings. According to the CDC, gas masks are known to be air-purifying respirators. They filter or clean chemical gases and any other particles out of the air you breathe. This respirator often has a facepiece or masks and a cartridge or filter. These are also often secured by straps on the top of the head.

Places You Can Use Gas Masks

  1. Areas Dealing with Hazardous Waste

There are people called hazardous material removal workers or hazmat workers who deal with dangerous waste. They use full protective suits and respiratory-type gas masks to remove, dispose, or transport nuclear waste, radioactive waste, and other types that could harm the environment or the public. The masks provide clean air when dealing with such toxic waste.

  1. Areas with Nuclear Radiation

There are factories and nuclear power plants that deal with nuclear radiation.

They can even be found near some places where people live. If you are an employee or someone who lives close to these factories or plants, you will need a gas mask to protect you from the harmful air. In cases of emergency, these masks will also come in handy because wearing one could be the difference in survival.

  1. Areas in Healthcare or Medical Facilities

Most doctors, nurses, and any other medical or healthcare professionals can be found wearing masks to protect themselves and ensure the safety of the patients and other people.

P100 masks are efficient when it comes to contagious diseases such as COVID-19, the swine flu and avian flu, as stated by Enviro Safety. These filters can help block most airborne hazards, which is why it is normal for people to wear these masks during a pandemic to prevent the spread of a virus.

  1. Areas with Poor Air Quality

Most people won’t be able to easily avoid areas with poor air quality because of the nature of their jobs, such as those who work in construction, food processing plants, agriculture, or even pharmaceutical manufacturing. These workers are usually exposed to dust, hazardous mist, and fumes. But, with P100 masks, they would be protected from 99.97% of particulate matter and gasses when properly worn.

As can be seen above, there are jobs that use face masks, so there is no reason for you not to get one. Keep your lungs safe with masks and avoid causing any harm to them!

How Hanoi’s Streets Became Unhealthy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People are flocking to city centers all over the world, in search of better jobs in urban environments. For the people who design the roads and buildings in cities this requires significant planning. Without planning for the future, expensive mistakes can deter growth and have negative impact on housing, sanitation, education, and employment. Hanoi’s narrow streets and high tax on cars has led to an increased number of motorbike owners. This has recently led to pollution becoming dangerous to people’s health.

Emissions of all types are found in Hanoi’s air, including fine particles which lead to a large number of deaths per year. Particles (PM) as small as 2.5 micrometers lodge deep in our lungs, clogging arteries, making it harder to breathe. This irreversible effect is the reason scientists have been studying how safe it is to live in such an environment. PM10 particles are larger, and are usually in the form of dust. Blocking PM10 particles is easier than PM2.5 particles, and can be done with a simple cloth mask. Those masks however don’t block all the other particles or gasses.

There are more and more reasons coming to light that show how a city can become unhealthy.
• More people = more traffic.
• More electricity demand = more electricity production (usually without regulation, in the form of power plants).
• Smoking and cooking indoors = highly concentrated PM2.5 particles in indoor environments.
• Burning crops (called stubble burning) to make way for a new planting season = CO2 filled environment.
• Factory emissions and runoff = polluted water bodies and trash dumps.
• Dusty roads = increased dust in the air.
• Unregulated vehicles = filthy exhaust fumes in the air.

Looking at the history of the countries that now claim to have high air quality, we can see that developed countries like the U.S. went through similar pollution effects and had to fix them by developing specific regulations.

Here are some ways that we hope will slowly reduce the reasons a city is overly polluted.
• Efficient public transport solutions and use of bicycles and electric vehicles.
• Reaping the power from the sun, wind, and water.
• Regulations put in place to stop smoking indoors, and zero emission cooking stoves. Less use of Coal!
• Regulations against burning crops or stubble. As well as education of composting old crops.
• Removing factories using methods that pollute, and instead investing in factories that are able to use technology to eradicate emissions (like in the EU).
• Investment in road infrastructure and proper sidewalks, with runoff systems and sewers to deal with dust.
• Regulate vehicles to meet higher standards, and reduce poor fuel quality.

Although none of these suggestions can come into effect immediately, doing so would decrease emissions in the future. The majority of us care about our earth’s environment, but many who are not educated enough act like they don’t care. It occurs far too often that people copy those around them, following like a herd of sheep. “If they throw their trash on the ground, why shouldn’t I?”

We’re looking forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions on some of these issues.
What can each of us do to reduce the negative effects of pollution?