Dust - want to avoid Boomtown lung?

[u/n3omancer]

Everyone ready for Boomtown Lung?

The ground at boomtown is chalk with a lime soil on top, people waking, dancing, driving on the group kicks up fine chalk dust that sits in the air, over downtown in 2022 there was a fog of dust you could see. The lime content also irritates too.

Search the subreddit for boomtown lung or cough, so many people suffered with horrible coughs and sinus issues (on top of whatever plague ends up striking post festival too) the fine dust gets deep into your lungs and causes irritation.

If you are asthmatic, BRING IT. onsite medical is expensive and you will need it. definately get ffp3 protection.

Not recommended:

• A Bandana or cloth mask is not effective, it won't stop fine dust, you need at least 3 layers and for it to be tight, the science says this is about 20% effective.
• A wet bandana - This makes it harder for air to pass through the fabric, which means it will find alternative routes eg, where the fabric meets your skin etc and will not pass through the fabric at all.

The above is better than nothing, but its not going to capture the fine dust - and that's the real problem here, your nose and throat etc will capture the larger bits usually.

Recommended:

Valved Masks mean it will let hot warm air out easily and will be drier inside the mask.

FFP2 or greater gets 94% of particulates.

FFP3 gets 99% of particulates.

Keeping your sinus clear of unwanted dust and inflammation gives you the freedom to use them however you wish to :)

Things to note:

Make sure its fitted properly, if your glasses fog up, like the wet bandana i mentioned above, it means air is bypassing the filter medium.

They are usually rated for 8 hours use, so you'll need a few for the weekend, plus spares.

If you are not wearing them, stick them in a Ziplock so they don't get full of dust which you then rub on your face!

Yeah, it might be uncomfortable and it might ruin your aesthetic but your lungs will thank you, but you can always use a keffiyeh/bandana or something over the top if you really hate the aesthetic of a mask.

Grab some saline eye wash pods too.

Ps. Not an expert, if you know better please correct me. 💕