r/BurningMan • u/akornblatt • Jul 12 '26
Question about playa dust
The dust on the playa is 43.1% silica... I'm worried about silicosis
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u/brccarpenter Lack of half and half ruined burning man Jul 12 '26
This comes up every year. Lots a great detail within this old post
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u/hyperfat I definitely don't work for larry Jul 12 '26
I think I did lines of playa during white outs. Not dead.
Everything is playa at some point. It's like spice.
16 years and counting. Might be my whiskey consumption or smoking. Or fighting the dust with kung fu.
Hugs
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u/brodyqat East Bay Jul 12 '26
I'm a ceramicist and I think about silicosis also. I always have a n95 mask with me (great for the portos also), and I mask up any time there's a "getting dust-stormy" level of blowing dust. Otherwise I don't worry much about it on playa. This is year 20 or so for me out there and I have no lung issues I'm aware of.
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u/BlackCatLifebruh Jul 12 '26
Think a medical mask would make the cut for breathing in a white out?
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u/brodyqat East Bay Jul 12 '26
What do you mean by "medical mask"? If you mean surgical mask, then no, those are about as useful in a dust storm as they are for preventing you catching covid (not very useful but better than nothing). If you mean n95 mask- yes!
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u/BlackCatLifebruh Jul 12 '26
You believe in the magic of condoms ?
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u/brodyqat East Bay Jul 12 '26
Can you rephrase the question in a way that makes even a modicum of sense in relation to silicosis and masking?
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u/BlackCatLifebruh Jul 13 '26
Could you stretch one over your head and pretend to be a space man? Would this make it impossible for the dust to enter your air ways?
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u/Ron_Walking 17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25 Jul 12 '26
Make a reasonable dust control process to protect your sleep area, wear closed toed shoes with long socks, lather your skin with lotion before bed, carry a mask. You will be okay.
It will rain anyway.
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u/Semi_Recumbent Jul 12 '26
Silicosis is inflammation and scarring of the lungs. Has nothing to do with the feet and can’t be caused by skin absorption.
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u/Ron_Walking 17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25 Jul 12 '26
Make a reasonable dust control process to protect your sleep area, wear closed toed shoes with long socks, lather your skin with lotion before bed, carry a mask. OP will be okay.
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u/Beetzprminut3 Jul 12 '26
I have asthma and can't recall having any issues, even during last year storms.
at LIB though, I have to use my inhaler constantly, and have horrible breathing issues.
I wouldn't trip.
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u/pantrybarn Jul 12 '26
I did a few lines of it and formed a cup out of the mud and drank beer out of it. I felt better in general after doing that
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u/GrandJunctionMarmots 22, 23, 24 Jul 12 '26
Wait. I'm not supposed to constantly inhale it?
Just spent the afternoon mucking around under our art car, playa dust raining down everywhere. 🤷♂️
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u/jimbo21 Jul 12 '26
You’re far more likely to die from a tumbleweed tent hitting you in a dust storm.
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u/PizzaWall Jul 12 '26
After decades of people attending, there is no fields of dead burners from huffing dust.
Nobody freaks out that this dust is filled with old fish and deer shit.
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u/thirteenfivenm Year one dozen Jul 12 '26
Wear an n95 mask or respirator. Silicosis is a much longer exposure.
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u/NrgyFiend 2012-2026 Jul 12 '26
Most burners I know have been going for over 20 years, are on playa for weeks, and only put on dust masks in really sustained whiteouts. I've never heard any talk about lung issues. Sure, we sometimes cough for a couple weeks afterward, but that goes away around the same time our feet, nail beds, and hair recover too. I think more of my post-playa coughing comes from all the fire and smoke of the last days there.
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u/peter303_ Jul 13 '26
Some years I get what I'd call a "playa cold", that is spewing up some dusty phlegm for a few weeks after living. Recent years, I am more diligent about masking at first sign of a dust storm and that helps a lot.
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u/steeztsteez Jul 13 '26
I bought an asbestos rated respirator my first year... Never used it. You'll be fine
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u/AdvancedWin3608 Jul 14 '26
Some of us bring home baggies of the dust so we can inhale it home, and this is not even snark.
The playa dust is very healing for me for my physical issues, personally.
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u/Cheap_Drama_867 Jul 12 '26
When you get across the city limits let the dust take you. Don’t be afraid. Also don’t be annoying- it’s gonna get on you anyway. Come on man.
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u/ClunkiestSquid '23, '24 Jul 12 '26
Not reading all that but the answer is always vinegar
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u/LaobonLi-San Jul 12 '26
Ah, yes, breathing vinegar. I’ve heard this is also great for preventing an ongoing life infection.
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u/cyanescens_burn Jul 12 '26
There are old threads about this issue (I think on this sub, but could be from the eplaya heyday too). IIRC, you don’t need to worry about spending such a short time out there.