Today, I had a very interesting experience. I was commuting from my home to work, about 4 miles, but had just gotten outside the house when I began coughing and retching--actually lost my breakfast--probably because of something in the air. I went inside the house and got my respirator, screwed in the acid gas/organic vapour/P-100 cartridges into it, and put it on. The symptoms disappeared. I rode to work wearing it, and had to open the door for a contractor who was demolishing a corrosive exhaust line in our factory. They are 40-hour Haz-Wopper certified, and when I rode in to open the door for them, their supervisor said, "John, you're scaring us." I told them that I had a story to tell, and after showering, told them the rest of the story.

I suspect that the episode was caused by air pollution emminating from a "bus barn" that is operated by the school district nearby. They now have 40 diesel engine buses that start up in the morning. I have a hunch that this developed a cloud of diesel exhaust which enveloped my neighborhood. I know of the possibility, but now this has really gotten my attention. I think there was very high levels of PM10 particles (nanoparticles) in the air this morning. This, in my mind, is fairly well confirmed by the symptoms immediately dissipating as soon as I put on the half-face respirator. I had, I believe, an acute reaction to these particles in the air. I will be doing more (sampling, discussing it with my neighbors, etc.) about this as the days and weeks go on. I am now very concerned about the health of my community concerning this.

I had no problems with bicycling fairly fast to work (I needed to open the doors for these guys) while using the respirator. But I told them it was a bit ugly inside (lots of drainage from my nose), so I left the respirator on while opening the door.

It's an interesting beginning to the day, and I joked that perhaps because it is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, that God did not want me to keep my breakfast today.

John