respiration masks..?

blatantrereg

Does anyone use these? Any recommendations?
I think I will try using one under a scarf or a coat that would conceal that when on main roads..

Harrybelafonte

blatantrereg wrote: »

Does anyone use these? Any recommendations?
I think I will try using one under a scarf or a coat that would conceal that when on main roads..

I used to wear one. They're pretty pointless, they don't just stop pollution getting through, they stop the oxygen too. It gets pretty difficult to breath and your face heats up massively. Very uncomfortable tbh.

blatantrereg

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

I used to wear one. They're pretty pointless, they don't just stop pollution getting through, they stop the oxygen too. It gets pretty difficult to breath and your face heats up massively. Very uncomfortable tbh.

Thanks. Do you remember what type you used - or if you tried various ones? Did you use ones specifically marketed for use while cycling?

Harrybelafonte

blatantrereg wrote: »

Thanks. Do you remember what type you used - or if you tried various ones? Did you use ones specifically marketed for use while cycling?

Yep, it was specificly for cycling. Just got one tbh, it was mid priced if I remember. Regretted it. Wear a buff now for the cold. I really don't think the pollution element is worth it.

blatantrereg

Thanks. I hope to find one that suits me ok. I'd bear with some heat and impingement on breathing if it filtered out pollution. I intend to only use it on roads where the pollution is bad - and often detours are feasible.

anyone try the respro techno by any chance?

Dont suppose you'd be able to try it on anywhere? Some reviews indicate it doesn't fit everyone very well, and I have a fairly big jaw

rothai

I had one too, uncomfortable. I wouldn't bother if I was you. I wore mine once, still looks new. It's in a drawer now probably never to see the light of day again. You could have mine for the price of a pint. Or swap it for something?

rothai

The one I have is a techno, not sure what model though. Is there more than 1?

rothai

Only after seeing your link there, holy **** I paid 30 pounds for it :eek:
It's the same as the one in the picture alright

chakattack

I have the respro techno in the black scarf version.

It does filter the pollution but you can only use it at a certain intensity. I like to cycle fast so it didn't work for me but would be ideal for a more relaxed city centre commute.

You can have my one for free if you collect it - used only once.

Keep_Her_Lit

I wore one for a couple of years when cycling in central London but only because the air quality was truly brutal at times - dense, near stationary traffic with lots of diesel engines, mainly taxis and buses, belching out their particulate grit.

They are bloody horrible to wear and really hold you back if you want to up your pace a bit. They also make you look like some kind of post apocalyptic eco warrior, IMHO, and I don't think their presence helps when it comes to communicating with other road users or pedestrians.

Unless you have a particular sensitivity to traffic pollution, I don't think there's anywhere in Ireland where you should need to use one of these masks. I concur with previous posters - give it a miss.

rothai

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

They also make you look like some kind of post apocalyptic eco warrior, IMHO.

Kintarō Hattori

I got this one I think it was when I was cycling in the city centre. I found it made the front of your face REALLY warm and it was somewhat uncomfortable to wear.

The only time I could see myself using it now is if we have a very cold day as it can be somewhat uncomfortable breathing deeply/heavily when the air is very cold.

blatantrereg

rothai wrote: »

I had one too, uncomfortable. I wouldn't bother if I was you. I wore mine once, still looks new. It's in a drawer now probably never to see the light of day again. You could have mine for the price of a pint. Or swap it for something?

chakattack wrote: »

I have the respro techno in the black scarf version.

It does filter the pollution but you can only use it at a certain intensity. I like to cycle fast so it didn't work for me but would be ideal for a more relaxed city centre commute.

You can have my one for free if you collect it - used only once.

Thanks for the offers; really nice of you. I dont live in Dublin though so it probably wouldn't be feasible to pick it up.


Thanks for all the responses too. In spite of the negative aspects to it, I went ahead and ordered one. I'm experiencing physical symptoms which seem to be caused by inhaling car fumes, and I'm not happy about that...When I think about times I experienced various symptoms they coincide with being exposed to a lot of air pollution too (I grew up in an area which had extremely heavy traffic and smog at the time).

I'm not too pushed about being slowed down, because I only intend to wear it in certain places and consider it a worthwhile tradeoff. Ditto wrt comfort and looking mildly nuts. I am wondering if it will fit properly, but hopefully it will I guess, and again I consider the risk of that acceptable.

Jawgap

I'm sure there is more up to date research, but this report suggests they are pretty ineffective - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/109656.stm

Some masks might trap the larger PM10 particles, but smaller pores are required to trap smaller particles such as PM2.5s - this obviously restricts breathing.

The masks are also of less use when it comes to gases such as Carbon Monoxide, ozone and the other pollutant gases.

monument

blatantrereg wrote: »

Thanks for the offers; really nice of you. I dont live in Dublin though so it probably wouldn't be feasible to pick it up.


Thanks for all the responses too. In spite of the negative aspects to it, I went ahead and ordered one. I'm experiencing physical symptoms which seem to be caused by inhaling car fumes, and I'm not happy about that...When I think about times I experienced various symptoms they coincide with being exposed to a lot of air pollution too (I grew up in an area which had extremely heavy traffic and smog at the time).

I'm not too pushed about being slowed down, because I only intend to wear it in certain places and consider it a worthwhile tradeoff. Ditto wrt comfort and looking mildly nuts. I am wondering if it will fit properly, but hopefully it will I guess, and again I consider the risk of that acceptable.

Are you sure these are not generally breathing problems? Be careful because a mask could make those worse.

Do you mind me asking where this is happening? EPA air quatly problems don't show many problems outside of Dublin.

Jawgap

More discussion on the topic here, including how pollution can irritate breathing problems in cyclists and what can be done to minimise the risk.....

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/health-air-pollution-the-invisible-threat-28264/

blatantrereg

Jawgap wrote: »

I'm sure there is more up to date research, but this report suggests they are pretty ineffective - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/109656.stm

Some masks might trap the larger PM10 particles, but smaller pores are required to trap smaller particles such as PM2.5s - this obviously restricts breathing.

The masks are also of less use when it comes to gases such as Carbon Monoxide, ozone and the other pollutant gases.

I read up a bit on the subject, and the respro techno seems reasonably effective. It is certified and looking at the catalogue they seem to be clear enough about what their products do and dont do. They seem to make it clear what sort of filters are in each of their products and what they are intended to filter out. Literature appears to support that activated charcoal/activated carbon filters can help purify gaseous pollutants from the air (by causing them to condense I think) - it also has a particle filter which I think captures particles as small as 0.3 microns.

edit: Actually the specific mask is mentioned in the article asa one of three that that were useful in filtering pollutants from the air: [I missed that bit on first look]

The cheapest mask in the test - Kanco Eezy Breethe - scored well for leakage and filtering out pollutants

It was one of three products which did well in keeping out normal and ultra-fine particles of pollution. The others were Respro Techno Gold and the Techno Gold Upgrade Kit.

I guess I can expect it to restrict breathing to some extent at least - but like I say I can accept that. I'm not looking at it as a something to wear on a recreational cycle. It's specifically for avoiding inhaling a load of crap in specific areas where I need to travel. (Well that and pretending I'm in Fallout 3)

monument wrote: »

Are you sure these are not generally breathing problems? Be careful because a mask could make those worse.

Do you mind me asking where this is happening? EPA air quatly problems don't show many problems outside of Dublin.

Yes I'm sure it's not general breathing problems.
Dont want to go into specifics about where, and doing so would be meaningless probably anyway. The main place I'm concerned about is a very busy main road without much provision for pedestrians at all , and the smell of the car fumes is pretty strong. It's clearly pretty heavily polluted.

blatantrereg

Just thought I'd mention that this was only dispatched today - over four weeks after I placed the order. I got this email after mailing them twice this week asking why it was taking so long. There was no apology nor explanation. There certainly was no indication they were out of stock or anything like that when I placed the order. It said on their site to allow up to two and a half weeks for delivery - to anywhere in the world - because of differences in local postal services.

They did however send me spam.

Shockingly bad service tbh.

Axolotl

rothai wrote: »

I had one too, uncomfortable. I wouldn't bother if I was you. I wore mine once, still looks new. It's in a drawer now probably never to see the light of day again. You could have mine for the price of a pint. Or swap it for something?

chakattack wrote: »

I have the respro techno in the black scarf version.

It does filter the pollution but you can only use it at a certain intensity. I like to cycle fast so it didn't work for me but would be ideal for a more relaxed city centre commute.

You can have my one for free if you collect it - used only once.

I've been thinking of investing in one of these recently- I don't suppose either of you still have your masks and would be willing to part with it, would you? Terms negotiable

Sarz91

I have one of the Techno ones. To be honest, it's pretty useless. I started to get really light headed from lack of oxygen. I'm in no way unfit but these things should only really be used on the motor bike.

Plasid

Do you wear one while driving in town?

I ask as I once came across a study showing the intakes from most cars "pump" in more toxins for a driver than a cyclist passing them by in city traffic. The studies on putative protection are pretty weak or have been dis-proven.

Axolotl

Sarz91 wrote: »

I have one of the Techno ones. To be honest, it's pretty useless. I started to get really light headed from lack of oxygen. I'm in no way unfit but these things should only really be used on the motor bike.

I'm starting to get that impression alright, but I'd still be curious to try them for myself before writing them off- I rarely kill myself with effort when cycling along congested roads, and vice versa, so the airflow mightn't be as big a deal for me.
Hell, if it just filtered out the stench of the buses I occasionally get trapped behind, I'd be happy!

Lumen

Plasid wrote: »

I once came across a study showing the intakes from most cars "pump" in more toxins for a driver than a cyclist passing them by in city traffic

For a given volume of air breathed perhaps, but cycling requires more breathing.

ednwireland

Lumen wrote: »

For a given volume of air breathed perhaps, but cycling requires more breathing.

actually the report i read said that the way cars channel the air you actually get a concentration of exhaust fumes in cars

i used to wear a respro mask in derby after getting hay fever like symptoms , worked a treat.

Lumen

ednwireland wrote: »

actually the report i read said that the way cars channel the air you actually get a concentration of exhaust fumes in cars

Yes, I've read the same (or similar) reports myself, which IIRC found that air quality is worse inside cars than outside, but that doesn't take account that you breathe a greater volume of air when cycling.