Yikes! This is the air right outside my DC house just now. The PM2.5 level translates to an AQI of 432! Air seems more metallic than smoky. Definitely not healthy to be outside around here, especially without a mask. (Glad I have my mask)
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@mattblaze username checks out
@mattblaze what happened??
@kuba Wildfires in Canada.
The official reading for the city is 235 right now - still unhealthy, but considerably lower than right here. So this is some relatively local effect.
@mattblaze it gets bad when it starts to make sense to talk about pm2.5 as g per cubic meter...
But Trump will invade Canada and put out the fires!
)
@mattblaze - I'm just south of you, so yay...
Regarding masks, do you know if the N95 masks are a decent enough filter for this?
@tinker
Oof, assuming indeed "95% filtering", PM2.5 is still going to be around 15, which is the recommendation for staying under... But that's still a huge improvement. There's going to be some chemical contaminants those masks won't be able to do that much about, but, nonetheless, huge improvement.
If you can, elastomeric respirator with P100 filter will be even better, especially combined with a charcoal chemical absorption filter.
@mattblaze
@viq @mattblaze - Noted. Thank you!
@tinker Probably not for really extended exposure. If I needed to spend all day outside (in the heat?) I’d probably prefer an N99 or P100. But I suspect N95 is fine for short intervals.
@mattblaze - I need to up my mask game.
(Not joking) I think its time to add hooks to next to the door. In addition to keys, backpacks, hats/scarves, I'll have one for masks.
Anyhoo! Cheers for the info and stay safe!
@tinker I’m continuing to really like my Flo Mask Pro.
wow that sucks for AQI Matt
@mattblaze what air quality meter are you using? Or is this just the screen of several devices on the outside?
