Pollution filter face masks & Asthma

Hello

I've recently been told by the doc that i may have asthma after being unable to shift a cough after a heavy cold. I've now become even more aware of the environment i cycle in & the pollutants chucked out by road traffic, particualy lorries & buses. As i live in london there are plenty of these about.

I'm now considering getting a pollution filter face mask. Can anyone with mild asthma recommend i get one of these or are they a waste of time? I really don't know much about them, if there is scientific evidence that they actually benefit asthma sufferers etc.

many thanks

Dan.

 

danielstevens <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello
>
> I've recently been told by the doc that i may have asthma after being unable to shift a cough
> after a heavy cold. I've now become even more aware of the environment i cycle in & the pollutants
> chucked out by road traffic, particualy lorries & buses. As i live in london there are plenty of
> these about.
>
> I'm now considering getting a pollution filter face mask. Can anyone with mild asthma recommend i
> get one of these or are they a waste of time? I really don't know much about them, if there is
> scientific evidence that they actually benefit asthma sufferers etc.
>

As I recall the general consensus is they do not help and may exacerbate the problems. The filters
provide a resistance to breathing if they are doing anything but they quickly lose their
effectiveness unless you change them extremely often otherwise you are breathing though a filter
that is loaded with all the contaminants you want to avoid.

Tony

--
http://www.raven-family.com

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to
adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -- George
Bernard Shaw

 

"danielstevens" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello
>
> I've recently been told by the doc that i may have asthma after being unable to shift a cough
> after a heavy cold. I've now become even more aware of the environment i cycle in & the pollutants
> chucked out by road traffic, particualy lorries & buses. As i live in london there are plenty of
> these about.
>
> I'm now considering getting a pollution filter face mask. Can anyone with mild asthma recommend i
> get one of these or are they a waste of time? I really don't know much about them, if there is
> scientific evidence that they actually benefit asthma sufferers etc.
>
> many thanks
>
Purely my own opinion and based on my own experience (avoiding those who don't like helmets etc) but
I find that if I cycle without my mask my lungs hurt. With the mask - filter changed about once a
month - it's much better. I'm not an asthma sufferer so that may affect your decision but riding
without one seems much worse to me.

 

> I'm now considering getting a pollution filter face mask. Can anyone with mild asthma recommend i
> get one of these or are they a waste of time? I really don't know much about them, if there is
> scientific evidence that they actually benefit asthma sufferers etc.

I don't think there is solid evdence, but it seems reasonable not to breathe in more particles than
you have to.Try it and see whether you can get to like wearing a mask.You could pull it down when
not needed.Gas filtration is probably not going to be done effectively with anything less than a
rubber mask and raplaceable canister filters.

Much more cost effective to try industrial equipment.Your company may have suppliers you could speak
to.Here is a link

http://www.safetysupplies.co.uk/contact.htm http://www.safetysupplies.co.uk/trolleyed/5/index.htm

 

On 28 Mar 2003 21:00:22 +1050, danielstevens <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hello
>
>I've recently been told by the doc that i may have asthma after being unable to shift a cough after
>a heavy cold. I've now become even more aware of the environment i cycle in & the pollutants
>chucked out by road traffic, particualy lorries & buses. As i live in london there are plenty of
>these about.

The lorries and buses do throw out obvious black soot and this can cause problems, but the unseen
pollutants NOx and CO produced by all engines, but mainly petrol, need to be filtered out as well.

>
>I'm now considering getting a pollution filter face mask. Can anyone with mild asthma recommend i
>get one of these or are they a waste of time? I really don't know much about them, if there is
>scientific evidence that they actually benefit asthma sufferers etc.
>
>many thanks
>
>Dan.

 

In news:[email protected], danielstevens <[email protected]> typed:
> Hello
>
> I've recently been told by the doc that i may have asthma after being unable to shift a cough
> after a heavy cold. I've now become even more aware of the environment i cycle in & the pollutants
> chucked out by road traffic, particualy lorries & buses. As i live in london there are plenty of
> these about.
>
> I'm now considering getting a pollution filter face mask. Can anyone with mild asthma recommend i
> get one of these or are they a waste of time?

I have had asthma since childhood (although it didn't cause much problems after puberty) - I live in
Reading which can be as bad as London for pollution but have never found it necessary to wear a
mask. The only time I remember people wearing these is in 1991 when that rave crew Altern8
encouraged their wearing at parties

One thing to look out for is hay fever in the spring/summer, but I'm not sure if a mask improves
things - as Tony it is also a resistance to normal *breathing*!

I would keep such masks for if you are in the workshop using chemicals or other nasty stuff which
you should not breathe in.

Another thing I noticed when I went to the GP (my *only* visit in 2002!) to get hay fever
medication, is that because I was an asthma sufferer she made me blow into the peak flow meter (that
thing which measures your lung capacity). Now as a kid I used to have a nightmare with this damn
contraption - but as a man of 30 (who only re-started cycling last year and before that wasn't
exactly a health-freak I could now blow the thing over half-way across the scale!

The only thing that changed in my life was that I was now cycling regularly! Now please be aware I
only fix bicycles, computers and electric installations and am not a doctor (any real doctors are
welcome to add their thoughts), but I think the main thing may be to keep riding and improve your
fitness, and perhaps this will make the asthma easier to live with.

Alex

 

You'll find that the cold, damp and perhaps foggy mornings will be "killers."

The dense air will affect your lungs and make the asthma worse. I tend to use a Buff scarf over my
nose and mouth so that I do not breathe too much cold air into my lungs. I have thought about a
Respro mask but rejected the idea as the Buff does the job just as well.

I would never have believed how the Great Smog could have killed so many people until I realised
what an ordinary fog does to my lungs, let alone a sulphur rich pea souper.
--
Cheers,

Wallace Shackleton. Kinross, Scotland.

www.cyclekinross.org.uk

 

On 28 Mar 2003 21:00:22 +1050, danielstevens <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hello
>
>I've recently been told by the doc that i may have asthma after being unable to shift a cough after
>a heavy cold. I've now become even more aware of the environment i cycle in & the pollutants
>chucked out by road traffic, particualy lorries & buses. As i live in london there are plenty of
>these about.
>
>I'm now considering getting a pollution filter face mask. Can anyone with mild asthma recommend i
>get one of these or are they a waste of time? I really don't know much about them, if there is
>scientific evidence that they actually benefit asthma sufferers etc.
>
>many thanks
>
>Dan.
I don't know if you have seen them but there are six fools/intrepid people doing a thousand miles in
a thousand hours finishing with the London marathon. One of them is an asthma sufferer and she lives
in the Yorkshire moors somewhere. The run they are doing is over the marathon route and she is
wearing one of respro masks, because she started to get bad symptoms when running in the polluted
London air. The mask stopped her symptoms so it must do something. I would say that it is worth
trying. I cycle/work in London every day and i think I shall get one now.