Gas mask/filters

[Secretprepper]

Hi I watched a programme and have seen some newspaper articles about the Icelandic volcano katla, some potential quite scary stuff if that baby was to erupt which is long overdue, recently the scientists have found bulging ect on katla, which indicates quantities of magma building up and moving the earth. Anyway I am interested if anyone knows of any face mask/ filters that would be suitable for Sulpher dioxide in the air ? My thoughts are, if this bad boy goes off it really could effect us all and I would love to have a set of masks/ filters for the family and hope we never need to use them. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

[Arzosah]

I was reading the UK government Risk Assessment at the beginning of this week (there's a recent thread on here that links to it) and I ended up at an international site for volcanic health hazards http://www.ivhhn.org/ There's a document you can download there about preparedness, and under the Guidelines section, it recommends N95 or the European equivalent of EN 149:2001. I can't remember a specific mention of sulphur dioxide, sorry, but it goes into a *lot* of detail about sizing and smooth fit - seems essential.

Hope this helps.

[Moony]

Filters / gas masks may be useful if you are concerned about ash particles, but sulphur dioxide is a gas so i think (and I'm no expert) that a normal gas mask / filter would do nothing, you'd need a full BA (breathing apparatus) kit - which is kinda impractical

If sulphur dioxide levels in the UK reached dangerous levels as a result of an icelandic volcano erupting, I'd suggest that it would be such an extreme event that most of the northern hemisphere would be uninhabitable and kinda beyond the preps of 99.9% of preppers, never mind the general population.

[Auntystatic]

I'm with Moony on this, the gas concentration would have to be extremely high to reach us in sufficient quantities to do harm, and with a south westerly prevailing wind it would be very unlikely.

[PreppingPingu]

Ash is a more likely worry than the gas, but there are so many variables with volcanoes. They erupt in many different ways and the volume of ash ejected and its height into the atmosphere will be the things that determine how they effect us here in Blighty. A severe eruption can chuck stuff into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, get caught up in the air currents, travel the globe, and drop global temps, effecting weather patterns etc. (Think the legendary Krakatoa and how the dust in the atmosphere allegedly gave rise the expression "once in a blue moon".) While volcanic eruptions are given types such as "stombolian", "plinian" etc, just coz it errupted that way once, doesn't always guarantee that it will do it that way the next time. While the volcanic rocks emitted do have certain geological signatures, it is hard to tell exactly how a volcano will erupt so while there is a high chance of Katla being a messy eruption, who knows! Level of pressure, amount of glacial cover etc can all effect it. Kinda of exciting really *grin* So back the original point ... erm, masks, how close are you likely to be?! Those N95s are always good have a few of for possible pandemic situations anyway, so it won't be wasted if you purchase a few. I have 4 (one for each of us in the house,) but I don't have any spare or any for when they have been used. Ought to get a few more really.

[ForgeCorvus]

This far away from a volcano its the dust you have to protect yourself from, a quick google shows me that a lot of it is basically powdered glass coated in a wide variety of nasty toxic and/or acidic chemicals.

A brief word on N95 masks, don't just get one each and expect that'll be all you'll need (read Point 4 in the link below)
http://www.ehow.com/how_8020144_use-n95-mask.html

Oh, and goggles would be a good idea as well



BTW, N95 masks only have to filter 95% of airborne particles, you can get higher ratings and ones which are also resistant to oil (think vehicle fires) CDC link

[Secretprepper]

Thanks for all replies, I was completely unaware that the Sulpher dioxide would be difficult to protect against, but fair point from Moony lol, I am now guessing we would all be out of here should that ever occur. Thanks very much for the input and links, I think I will get some of those N95 masks for the moment. Thanks again

[Arzosah]

Thanks for the link on *how* to wear, Forge Corvus - some of that was new to me

[ForgeCorvus]

Thanks for the link on *how* to wear, Forge Corvus - some of that was new to me

Me too, thats why I posted it


Today my Google-Fu is strong

[Moony]

We have these instructions on the masks we are provided with at work. However it goes on to say that if you use them without being trained you could suffer serious injury or even death, and as I havent had any training I don't use it, surely I'm safer that way ? right ?!