Poor air quality WWYD

[freesia]

1 hour ago, dsmith said:

I was just out (Northern NJ) and it amazes me that nobody is masking. Just me and one other person I saw. There were quite a few elderly people walking in this, people with car windows rolled down, one person jogging, crazy!!  I'm only going out when it's absolutely necessary. My chest is getting a little tight and I have a headache. And like a previous poster mentioned, it really does look like Mordor! It's getting worse by the hour, too.

All this is true for me—I’m a bit northeast if you we are now over 300. I saw ash on my way to the doctors. I was the only masked person I saw. My ds18 is working outside today. I hope they send him home now. 

[itsheresomewhere]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Wildfire smoke particles are largely PM2.5 in size. They are tiny, and therefore can go deep into your lung tissue. Cloth masks will not filter out this particle size sufficiently. 
 

N95s block 95% of that particle size. Two layer cloth masks only filter out 30-50% of particles that size.

I know we won’t agree but a cloth mask is at least better than nothing when you are dealing with issues and can not wear an N95. 

[itsheresomewhere]

1 hour ago, dsmith said:

I was just out (Northern NJ) and it amazes me that nobody is masking. Just me and one other person I saw. There were quite a few elderly people walking in this, people with car windows rolled down, one person jogging, crazy!!  I'm only going out when it's absolutely necessary. My chest is getting a little tight and I have a headache. And like a previous poster mentioned, it really does look like Mordor! It's getting worse by the hour, too.

Not far from you and here masking is about 25% today.  I am amazed at those who are exercising in this now.   Several of those wearing mask are wearing them as a chin diaper though.  

Edited June 7, 2023 by itsheresomewhere

[wintermom]

Living in an area of Canada experiencing active wildfires now, we're all reducing our time outdoors. I'm getting daily afternoon head-aches and/or fatigue.

I see more people wearing masks outdoors. 

Many Canadian homes don't have a/c as it's never been needed. The humidity doesn't usually get too high, nor the temps. We do, however, have lots of trees, and they're really dry from lack of rain. It's not easy. 

 

[rebcoola]

We routinely get bad air in 2020 it was literally off the charts.  N95 masks. Good quality filters on everything,  We've used the plastic sheeting meant for winter on the windows that seemed to be leaking.  Not sure what ou can do when its sudden not regular.  Things should absolutely be canceled everything gets canceled here.  

Some idiot aquantiances once still held their annual corn hole tournament and 2 young children wound up in the hospital.

[Clarita]

12 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

Right now tomorrow is forecasted to be the worst day and then slowly getting better.  Fortunately I am learning a lot from all your tips and am going to put together resources for our emergency management county offices.  I am afraid that this might be the first time in recorded memory, but it won’t be the last, and I need to learn how to prepare.

For future preparations, we keep a supply of filters (enough for 2 of the Corsi-Rosenthal boxes), we keep our HVAC system filters replaced (so the annual replacement you are suppose to do plus we replace after a wildfire event), we got extra air purifiers, and we got air quality monitors one for outside and one for inside. 

The air quality monitors are nice because the air quality can vary so much, the information you are getting from places are usually some sort of average (over time and/or space). Not every wildfire leads to apocalyptic air sometimes it's somewhere in-between, I know with kids it's nice to know when the can run around in the backyard for a bit.  

[KSera]

2 hours ago, dsmith said:

I was just out (Northern NJ) and it amazes me that nobody is masking. Just me and one other person I saw. There were quite a few elderly people walking in this, people with car windows rolled down, one person jogging, crazy!!  I'm only going out when it's absolutely necessary. My chest is getting a little tight and I have a headache. And like a previous poster mentioned, it really does look like Mordor! It's getting worse by the hour, too.

I think this is typical when it’s a new phenomenon in an area. The first couple years we were getting wildfire smoke, no one seemed to alter their activities for it. Now people are more aware of the risks and seem to mostly stay in. 

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Here’s a reference to the study made in a news article. I will keep digging: https://www.nwnewsnetwork.org/2022-08-19/scientists-work-to-protect-indoor-air-quality-from-wildfire-smoke

I like the clean room concept. We don’t have enough filter boxes for the whole house, so I think I’ll aim to have everyone sleep in the largest room with a closing door with multiple boxes next time we need it, rather than spreading the boxes out. 

35 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

I know we won’t agree but a cloth mask is at least better than nothing when you are dealing with issues and can not wear an N95. 

A KF94 might be a compromise worth trying. Much closer to N95 protection, but ear loops and usually more breathable than cloth (a cloth mask is typically only easier to breathe in if it gaps so much that all the air you’re breathing in is coming around the edges, bypassing the mask altogether). 

[mommyoffive]

Opinion: A Californian’s message to East Coasters struggling to take a deep breath (msn.com)

[Tap]

3 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Perhaps it’s because my area is one of the areas where Amazon uses electric vans (as well as others but we do have a large fleet of electric.). Our area also has a large fleet of zero emissions buses and has retired the last diesel buses in 2020. Some buses are hybrid. 

They will decrease services to protect the workers health. 

[Tap]

Cover all vents you can ( kitchen, bathroom etc) but also put foam covers in the foundation openings ( like you do for bad weather) 

[Carol in Cal.]

AC filters are not always HEPA--you have to ask for that specifically even in new systems.  And HEPA is what you want for this.

I would wear an N95 mask all the time, and pick an interior room, put in a HEPA air filter machine, and keep it as the defensible clean room--no shoes, taped windows, no pets.

I noticed when we had wildfires near the cabin that I could smell a gradient inside from 'near the door' to the middle of the room.  See what you can do to pick your cleanest spot, and stay there as much as possible.  You REALLY don't want to drive this stuff into your lungs.

[prairiewindmomma]

A cloth mask is better than nothing. We agree. My point in sharing particle size and in sharing the filtering % of various materials is to give people information so that they can make decisions that work for their family. I have a kid with sensory issues and asthma, as an example, and so we do a lot of heavy indoor filtering but limit outside time during smoke events. It’s a trade off. Some families may choose to do nothing. I respect their decision making. I just provided info because it’s not as widely shared outside of places with regular wildfire smoke exposure. People can do with it what they wish.

 

[Wheres Toto]

2 hours ago, dsmith said:

I was just out (Northern NJ) and it amazes me that nobody is masking. Just me and one other person I saw. There were quite a few elderly people walking in this, people with car windows rolled down, one person jogging, crazy!!  I'm only going out when it's absolutely necessary. My chest is getting a little tight and I have a headache. And like a previous poster mentioned, it really does look like Mordor! It's getting worse by the hour, too.

I'm also in Northern NJ and it looked positively apocalyptic earlier this afternoon.  Yellow skies, neon orange sun barely shining through.   I was inside with air purifiers at work but wore a mask to head home.  I work in a town that usually has tons of people walking, jogging, biking, etc. but I didn't see many on my ride home.   The air felt greasy and smelled like chemical burning.  

[Wheres Toto]

1 hour ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

This is about 45 minutes away from me. It looks the same from my living room window.

I know there are places where hazardous wildfire smoke is a common occurance; I just cannot stress how unprepared my area is for this.

I don’t even know where we could reasonably travel to right now with better air.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT81dFmP5/

We were talking about this at work today.   It looks like we'd have to head pretty far west or southwest to get away from it.   Maybe Tennesse?

[Faith-manor]

It is getting worse. Our skies were slightly blue but very hazy this morning. They are now yellow and the haze is worse. I have to take Lewis out in half an hour because he is refusing to use the puppy pad. My poor dog. I can't think of any way to mask him and get him agreeable to wear it.

My brother, unfortunately a bit of an idiot who follows his wife's crazy alternative "science", is out there with no mask loading stuff into his van. He had had a heart attack, a stroke, and has allergies. But his wife is convinced that oxygen can't pass through a mask 🙄🙄🙄😠😠😠, so he is without. I swear there are days I could just scream about their delusions.

I made a rather stout Mexican Gumbo for supper in the hopes of opening up my sinuses with the spicy heat. 

[MEmama]

2 hours ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

This is about 45 minutes away from me. It looks the same from my living room window.

I know there are places where hazardous wildfire smoke is a common occurance; I just cannot stress how unprepared my area is for this.

I don’t even know where we could reasonably travel to right now with better air.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT81dFmP5/

(Come to Maine! AQ is 23 right now)

But seriously, take care of yourselves. Do nothing completely unnecessary, and encourage masking.

I'm going out tomorrow for furnace filters so I can make the filter boxes when they are needed. I'm guessing there will be a run online since so much of the country is affected. And I've been encouraging my folks to do the same since they live in often smoky California, but they are weirdly reluctant. 

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

I'm going out tomorrow for furnace filters so I can make the filter boxes when they are needed. I'm guessing there will be a run online since so much of the country is affected. And I've been encouraging my folks to do the same since they live in often smoky California, but they are weirdly reluctant. 

I am too lazy to DIY the filter boxes but I do have a stockpile of N95s and KN95s. Would your parents be willing to wear N95s for grocery runs or just get Costco deliveries? Would they be willing to take supplements? I am going to get more Energen C because my favorite flavors tend to run out of stock whenever there is haze or flu season.

ETA:

I do have air purifiers and we could all “hide” in the bedroom and run both our air purifiers.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Arcadia

[MEmama]

13 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I am too lazy to DIY the filter boxes but I do have a stockpile of N95s and KN95s. Would your parents be willing to wear N95s for grocery runs or just get Costco deliveries? Would they be willing to take supplements? I am going to get more Energen C because my favorite flavors tend to run out of stock whenever there is haze or flu season.

They have worn N95s when it's smoky, at least my mom does, but not in the house. It's hard to convince them the air is just bad inside as out, even if they don't "feel" like is. 🤷‍♀️ They are accustomed to masking when out anyway, thanks to Covid. 

[Ausmumof3]

Mask to reduce exposure 

[Wheres Toto]

Newark this afternoon.  

In addition to the Canadian wildfires sending smoke, there's another fire in Pennsylvania and one in Central Jersey that are all affecting my area.  

[Arcadia]

7 minutes ago, Wheres Toto said:

Newark this afternoon.  

When the skies are looking like your photo, our eyes are going to water and sting. Do you have vials of eye drops just in case? The recalled eye drops are all bottles, none of the single use eye drop vials were recently recalled.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Arcadia

[Mrs Tiggywinkle Again]

It’s lifted some here.  I at least don’t feel like I’m suffocating. And I can see the sun a bit.

But physically I am exhausted.  I feel like I’ve run a marathon and I’ve barely been outside, just for the school run and to clothes shop for DD.  

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

It’s lifted some here.  I at least don’t feel like I’m suffocating. And I can see the sun a bit.

But physically I am exhausted.  I feel like I’ve run a marathon and I’ve barely been outside, just for the school run and to clothes shop for DD.  

I'm in northern MD and this afternoon I got a bad headache that didn't last long but I also felt so exhausted. And now I'm losing my voice. It sucks.

[itsheresomewhere]

I am pet sitting a very ticked off cat.  Everyday he gets time in his outdoor cat condo and a walk on a leash and I wouldn’t take him out today due to this. The looks and nasty sounding meows I am getting for caring about his health. If he was at my house, I might have to fear him smothering me in my sleep. 

[Starr]

6 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

I am pet sitting a very ticked off cat.  Everyday he gets time in his outdoor cat condo and a walk on a leash and I wouldn’t take him out today due to this. The looks and nasty sounding meows I am getting for caring about his health. If he was at my house, I might have to fear him smothering me in my sleep. 

Poor you, poor kitty . 

[Ausmumof3]

One of DHs very close friends is on the way over to help out (he may already be there). Please keep him in your thoughts for safety, he’s one of the kindest people I know.

To all those in the area, hope you stay safe and well, and have clear skies soon. 

[Carrie12345]

My emergency preparedness self doesn’t like traveling much. I prefer to be home where I feel like I have everything I need. So here I am in GA while my area of PA has been one of the most affected by the smoke! I’m mostly relieved, but our big dog is boarded up there.

Doggy camp has closed outdoor play, the local farms closed, end of year school activities canceled, sports canceled, outdoor seating stuff closed… not sure what all else, since I’m skimming from afar.

We’re supposed to start driving back Saturday morning and I don’t know what to expect as far as smoke moving south. We’ll have the small dog with us. One dd is flying up, and her flight hasn’t yet been affected by earlier flight changes due to yesterday’s visibility issues. Oldest ds is flying back to Florida, so he’s fine.

I don’t know what my HVAC filter is going to look like when we get back! I do have a stash of new ones, but I don’t know how much the AC ran while we were gone! I unplugged all irrelevant plugs before leaving, including the air purifier!  
Our dry, dry neighborhood is expecting dry thunderstorms today, I think. 😞

If I had my big dog, I might stay down here longer.

[Faith-manor]

Tiggy, I hope you are feeling better today.

My headache is not as strong. Mark could bot get the air filter unit working again, but the window air unit in our bedroom has a setting for just circulating air without cooling, and that runs the air through the filter, so I have it on and am hiding in there. At some point I need to do the things, but would rather ignore the things, and stay in the filtered air.

It is not quite so yellow looking outside, but I can still see ash falling sometimes. We are under a red flag warning both for dangerous air and fire. The air quality ones lasts until midnight tomorrow (Sat. Morning) unless they extend it. The fire warning will continue for who knows how long. No rain since May 7, and the 10 day forecast does not look promising.

I got after my mom yesterday. She made a pie for us and then decided to WALK the two blocks to here WITHOUT a mask. Why do my elderly mother and mother in law feel the need to make my head explode on a regular basis?????? 😠 I kept my emotions under control, and handed her a mask, and said I would drive her home, and she got pissy with me. 🙄 So I said that if she really wanted to walk, fine. But if she ended up with breathing trouble, she needed to call 911 and take the ambulance to the ER because I was busy. Then she most me drive her home. I hate being the bad guy. They seem to relish forcing me into that role.

School is out, got done last week because they didn't make up snow days. The teachers are still supposed to be there working, but the district page indicated they told the staff and faculty yesterday and today to stay home, and I suspect it will be the same tomorrow.

Anyway, I hope everyone is safe and stays that way! 

[mommyoffive]

The Great Smog of New York Echoes The Great Smog of London, 1952 (substack.com)

[Arcadia]

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/protecting-yourself-wildfire-smoke

 

 

[wintermom]

Hope you all down in north-eastern US are doing ok. The wind shifted for us in eastern ON, and we're fairing much better. I don't want the wind to shift our way again, but I also don't want you all to keep suffering! Hope we get more rain that can help control the fires in Quebec. 

[dsmith]

So far it looks better out there this morning, but air quality is still bad. I've been using a KN94 in the rooms I don't have an air purifier in, and barely going out. Last night I got very out of breath on my third flight of stairs to my bedroom. That hasn't happened since I had Covid. I do take NAC every day, so hopefully it was a one day thing. And the migraine - ugh. I don't take any meds anymore because they are so rare nowadays. I'm going to try 1/8 teaspoon ginger - just saw that on Nutritionfacts.org. When we went out yesterday evening I did see a lot more masks than earlier in the day. 

Stay safe everyone!

[Dmmetler]

20 hours ago, Wheres Toto said:

We were talking about this at work today.   It looks like we'd have to head pretty far west or southwest to get away from it.   Maybe Tennesse?

We're getting enough in Memphis that my lungs aren't happy and my eyes are watering. I'm not sure where you'd have to go to really get away from it.

[mommyoffive]

6 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

We're getting enough in Memphis that my lungs aren't happy and my eyes are watering. I'm not sure where you'd have to go to really get away from it.

I was just looking at the maps and it seems like Boston and north are in the green today.  Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are all green today. Otherwise Wisconsin and some parts of Michigan are green.  And then in the south the very southern part of Georgia is green today and Florida. 

[KungFuPanda]

It’s weirdly hazy in central Maryland. Our air quality says 192. It was worse this morning because we’ve been upgraded from Very Unhealthy to Unhealthy. We’ve got scratchy eyes, headaches, and irritated nasal passages, but we’ve been living like this for over a week so it took me a while to realize there was an environmental component. I could smell the smoke yesterday morning. 
 

I changed my furnace filter from an overdue disposable one to a washable kind. It’s only Merv 8, but it’s new and I can rinse it regularly. I could easily add another layer of something to it if I could figure out what that something might be. My mom has been staying with us and just went home yesterday morning. I’m glad because she has copd and the air 2000 feet higher in WV is probably better than ours today. 

[freesia]

We are doing much better today. I’ve seen the blue sky at times. There’s a breeze which I think is working in our favor. 

[marbel]

Ours is better today as well (SE PA) - went from 325 at about 7am to 192 currently (2pm).  @Mrs Tiggywinkle Again how's it going for you today? Judging by the approximate area I think you live in, I think/hope it's better than yesterday? 

[Matryoshka]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

I was just looking at the maps and it seems like Boston and north are in the green today.  Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are all green today. Otherwise Wisconsin and some parts of Michigan are green.  And then in the south the very southern part of Georgia is green today and Florida. 

Yeah, ironically we're much closer than most of the places that have it bad, but there's a low pressure area that's moving all the smoke first west and then south around us...

[MEmama]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

I was just looking at the maps and it seems like Boston and north are in the green today.  Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are all green today. Otherwise Wisconsin and some parts of Michigan are green.  And then in the south the very southern part of Georgia is green today and Florida. 

Where I am in coastal Maine our AQI is currently 7. Come on up for lobster rolls! (But bring a jacket cause it's chilly) 

I have no idea why this is all going south of us 🤷‍♀️
oops, @Matryoshka answered that, a low pressure system. I should probably read before posting 🤦‍♀️

Edited June 8, 2023 by MEmama

[freesia]

23 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Where I am in coastal Maine our AQI is currently 7. Come on up for lobster rolls! (But bring a jacket cause it's chilly) 

I have no idea why this is all going south of us 🤷‍♀️
oops, @Matryoshka answered that, a low pressure system. I should probably read before posting 🤦‍♀️

Oooo I wish I could!

[Acadie]

Simpler version of Corsi-Rosenthal listed above--not a box, just one fan, one MERV filter and duct tape. This would definitely help filter particulates and smoke in the house. Only caveat is if you use it for Covid, don't have it blowing one person's air directly toward another, in case it blows microbes. 

ETA: Jim Rosenthal himself recommends MERV 13 or equivalent, second link added below the first. 

https://twitter.com/danaparish/status/1666608174462377985?s=20

https://www.texairfilters.com/using-a-corsi-rosenthal-box-to-remove-wildfire-smoke-make-sure-to-use-the-right-filters/

Edited June 8, 2023 by Acadie

[prairiewindmomma]

3 hours ago, Acadie said:

Simpler version of Corsi-Rosenthal listed above--not a box, just one fan, one MERV filter and duct tape. This would definitely help filter particulates and smoke in the house. Only caveat is if you use it for Covid, don't have it blowing one person's air directly toward another, in case it blows microbes. 

ETA: Jim Rosenthal himself recommends MERV 13 or equivalent, second link added below the first. 

https://twitter.com/danaparish/status/1666608174462377985?s=20

https://www.texairfilters.com/using-a-corsi-rosenthal-box-to-remove-wildfire-smoke-make-sure-to-use-the-right-filters/

We've done that.....it's definitely cheaper and it takes up less space to use only one filter.

Obviously some filtering is better than no filtering.....but I just wanted to share our experience from last October.  One filter taped to a fan performed a little below our Honeywell or Levoit HEPA filters.  Our indoor air quality was around AQI 300 with one filter taped to the fan. (Outside was pushing 500, and our indoor unfiltered spaces were in the 400s.)  Our Levoit and Honeywell units kept us between 225-260 or so (room sizes vary by a few square feet, and window sizes do too, so it's hard to say one was better than the other on filtering capacity).  We made Corsi-Rosenthal boxes in the middle of the night, and our indoor AQI went from 227 to 33 in about 15 minutes.  That makes sense, right? Filtering air through four filters instead of one = better. I posted a bit about it here: 

 

[Melissa in Australia]

You get use to it eventually 

 

[KSera]

25 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

 One filter taped to a fan performed a little below our Honeywell or Levoit HEPA filters

What was the depth of the filter? I’ve been wondering about building a couple supplentary units using just a 20“ x 20“ x 4“ Merv 13. They would be less expensive and take up less space

[prairiewindmomma]

They were the 1” filters. Filtrete 1900s or Aerostars, Merv 13 rated. 
 

Fwiw, the Filtrete 1900s have the lowest pressure drop/are the least restrictive across the line. I always worry about straining our HVAC motors whenever I put on MERV 13 filters…so I try to buy those because they put about as much strain on as most MERV 8 rated stuff….but it looks like from my purchase history I may have used Aerostars. The Filtretes sell out pretty quickly, and I do remember scrambling last fall because I didn’t expect the season to go into late October.

[KSera]

2 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

They were the 1” filters. Filtrete 1900s or Aerostars, Merv 13 rated. 
 

Fwiw, the Filtrete 1900s have the lowest pressure drop/are the least restrictive across the line. I always worry about straining our HVAC motors whenever I put on MERV 13 filters…so I try to buy those because they put about as much strain on as most MERV 8 rated stuff….but it looks like from my purchase history I may have used Aerostars. The Filtretes sell out pretty quickly, and I do remember scrambling last fall because I didn’t expect the season to go into late October.

I’ve used a couple kinds, but mostly the Filtrete 2200. I think those might not be as good for an HVAC system due to higher pressure drop. I think in a four filter Corsi Rosenthal box, thats not a problem though. A lot of the CR box tutorials recommend the 2 inch depth filters, but I find those very difficult to find.
 

[Clarita]

This is a great description of what it's doing, why, and how in layman's terms.

[KungFuPanda]

I built a box; just the one. We’ll move it to the bedroom when we go to bed. I don’t know how much it will do, but I tried.  It was quick and if you buy 4 filters at Home Depot the price dropped from $22 each to $11 each. 
 

We’re at 172 outside now and expect at least another full day of bad air. 

[Acadie]

2 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We've done that.....it's definitely cheaper and it takes up less space to use only one filter.

Obviously some filtering is better than no filtering.....but I just wanted to share our experience from last October.  One filter taped to a fan performed a little below our Honeywell or Levoit HEPA filters.  Our indoor air quality was around AQI 300 with one filter taped to the fan. (Outside was pushing 500, and our indoor unfiltered spaces were in the 400s.)  Our Levoit and Honeywell units kept us between 225-260 or so (room sizes vary by a few square feet, and window sizes do too, so it's hard to say one was better than the other on filtering capacity).  We made Corsi-Rosenthal boxes in the middle of the night, and our indoor AQI went from 227 to 33 in about 15 minutes.  That makes sense, right? Filtering air through four filters instead of one = better. I posted a bit about it here: 

 

Thanks for the data--very interesting!

[KSera]

3 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

I built a box; just the one. We’ll move it to the bedroom when we go to bed. I don’t know how much it will do, but I tried.  It was quick and if you buy 4 filters at Home Depot the price dropped from $22 each to $11 each. 
 

We’re at 172 outside now and expect at least another full day of bad air. 

Very nicely done! Do you happen to have an air quality meter to see how well it’s doing?