The pollution and air quality is very bad here. Usually gets to be some of the worst air quality in the world.
Anyone riding around with N95 masks on? ,:)
I consider driving but I’m not even sure how well our 20 year old car filters the air (probably not at all), but at least we are spending less total time outside.
by Anonymous_Otter5458
41 Comments
Yeah, your concern is legit. I read a study that documented the risk to people walking in areas with poor air quality, and it found that the subjects pulled in a lot more air deeper into their lungs just from walking. I myself take the bus when the air quality is poor in my region. I realize in your region there are many more days of poor air quality, but you’re wise to take this seriously. I’m sorry.
Your car being old may not be too much of an issue as far as filtering air, you can just change your cabin air filter. Anyway I really think you should listen to the weather app if it tells you that you should avoid outside
It’s a tricky decision! It’s hard to ride far or hard in a mask. I still bike commute if the AQI is <100 but keep it short (it’s either 4 or 13 miles depending on train or ferry). Good to have options on especially bad air days.
If your commute to work is a reasonable distance and you’re not pregnant or a child I’d still ride through moderate AQI but not if I could smell wildfire smoke or if AQI got to “unhealthy”. I have ridden with an n95 mask… but at that point I’d drive.
Wear a mask. That sucks, but it’s not far off the standard Smog Lake City inversion pollution.
I saw a global cycling network video about this. If i remember correctly it wasn’t any worse to bike than drive. See if you can find it
While I understand the concern, those numbers are extremely mild for me. If I were to choose not to ride my bike because of this AQI, I would have to just quit cycling.
I normally walk every day outside. Not doing it today. I’m m at the gym on the treadmill. I would drive if I were you.
We had a pretty bad fire season one year here and I chose to either walk with a mask (less intense, so less face sweat) or take transit.
Mostly it was a judgment call on weather or not I could taste campfire in the air
I commuted into work ( Murray ) yesterday and had a cough all day. Not sure this week is healthy to be outside.
I’m in your area and I drove yesterday, WFH today. It’s true your still breathing it if you drive, but you’re not working NEARLY as hard, so the the impact is much less.
I live in the same region and chose not ride. This is due to smoke. Smoke inhalation is a big deal.
have you considered changing the cabin air filter
That sucks! But also makes me appreciate living right next to the Pacific Ocean with a sea breeze that constantly cleans the air and reminds me never to leave.
If you can stay at home. You can drive with the mask btw
I’ve never understood why indoor air would be any better than outdoor air in most buildings. I mean, sure, some larger buildings have equipment that deliberately brings in outside air, filter it, and pump it to the inside, but most homes and smaller commercial buildings just sorta ‘leak’ air back and forth, don’t they?
I would probably drive since that’s an option. I can’t bike in a mask for long when the air is good because I find it starts triggering my asthma. Wearing a mask in a car is easier than while biking. You can also do yourself a favour and replace your cabin air filters if its been awhile.
wtf
I use a N95 mask regularly for my combined public transport + bike commute.
Fellow SLC bike commuter here. I’ve been taking the bus this week, but if I was biking I’d wear an N95.
During fire season on bad days I use a P100 respirator with a valve. It’s a bit sweaty but much better than biking through the equivalent of a very smoky bar.
Yeah. The secret is to get an N95 that is highly breathable, like a 3M Vflex, or something with an exhalation valve. You can reuse it for up to 40 hrs total use. You’ll be surprised how much dust gathers on the outside of the respirator.
So this is a case where a pm filter is totally justified. It’s also totally justified to drive in rather than bike in.
I dont live in Utah, but I have ridden around with an n95 when we have high ozone or particulate matter.
Fellow SLC bike commuter here. We don’t usually have some of the worst air quality in the world, in fact averaged throughout the whole year we have better air quality than many cities (eg Houston, LA, Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Pittsburgh, quite a few others). Usually we’re much cleaner than other cities, but we do have some very bad days where I avoid going out.
20 year old car filters aren’t doing much for you, and unless you specifically got a merv filter for your house, neither is your house filter. Probably good to invest in hepa car filter and merv house filter.
Its moderate today so I’m not too worried about it, I’ll probably ride my ebike if it pops over 100. A P100 mask will filter 99.97 of all particulates and is fairly cheap if it gets higher. I basically stay in over 150 aqi (fairly rare lately, 1-2 days per year over the last 3 years).
kn95 and suffer 🙁 welcome to the future, friends
One of the things I do not miss about living in Salt Lake City. Good luck out there.
A couple of years ago I rode to work (about 8k) through heavy smoke. Really regretted it, I felt like crap for a few days afterwards.
On a subsequent equally smoky day I did ride with an N95 on. It was *much* better. I did find at the end of my ride there was a gross pool of face sweat sloshing in the mask around my chin. Not sure I’d have wanted to go further. Also, I believe an N95 will not filter out all the nasty stuff. Some of what gets through isn’t really good for you though you might not notice it.
In smoky times (and we get quite a few of such days unfortunately) I ride less often and ride more slowly, even if I’m masked up.
I tend to wear N95 masks when I bike commute or walk outside if the AQI is over ~50, otherwise it aggravates my asthma. On warm days it’s a bit miserable with a mask on, but it really makes a difference to my breathing. The mask need to be really well sealed though, so I recommend the ones with loops over the back of your head rather than just the ears.
I live in Salt Lake City too, in general I try to avoid going outside when the AQI gets above 100. I plan on taking the bus to get around until this clears up. I have asthma and rheumatoid arthritis though, so I tend to be a bit extra cautious.
I had to WFH today as my asthma immediately flared up upon leaving the house. Note that the air quality for fires is often worse than reported since there are many larger particles in the air that don’t get measured.
Bei der Luftqualität würde ich eher mit FFP2/N95 fahren und die Route ggf. anpassen. Auto ist da ehrlich gesagt auch keine echte Lösung – du atmest dort oft nur länger belastete Luft im Verkehr.
I smoked American Spirit Menthols for years. At 105 AQI today in summit county CO. Still rode to work. When its over 200 it starts to hurt but still less damaging than smoking cigs
Hi, fellow SLC commuter. I’ve been wearing a KN95 mask during my commute, and that feels very safe. I would stop riding if the AQI was in the “unhealthy” region, but that’s my risk tolerance.
Damn this makes me want to play Minecraft tbh
I’d stay home if possible but if you have to go in, I’d wear a N95
A mask is the way to go. I lived in a very polluted country in Asia and they make pollution masks that are a little more comfortable and formfitting than the standard n95 disposable ones.
I wear a mask when riding next to the motor way it makes a difference.
Utah county here. I don’t have a choice other than to Uber to work so I went in today, it was not fun I didn’t consider N95 mask for my commute. At least today my eyes are getting ash in them like on Monday.
Riding around with an N95 really isn’t hard, I did it for a while during Covid and wildfire seasons. You’ll probably like a respirator with replaceable filters more than a disposable mask, they are easier to breathe in and tend to accumulate a lot less moisture, in my experience. My favorite is the Flo mask, it’s an expensive up-front investment but very comfortable, and the replacement filters are super cheap in comparison to disposable masks.
We had wildfire smoke where I live last summer that got up to 200 AQI. All of the days over 100 I wore an N95 on my 10 mile commute. It was fine.