i don't commute to work, however, i figure it would be proper to ask the question here.

i've been riding around during lunch.. fast pace 8-11 miles round trip. where i'm at, there quite a bit of pollen and i'd hate to have those buggers go in as i breathe.

so what kind of facemask would be good for that and also for avoiding sucking in the fumes from cars and trucks?

i know there are many out there, but i'd like to find one that is breathable so i don't suffocate as i climb...

I would probably use a bandanna, if I felt a need for a face mask, other than for cold weather.
I am having a hard time envisioning the OP's conditions, ie traffic fumes. We don't have much traffic around here.

Living in LA, I have considered it. I have seen some people riding around with masks on similar to this. https://www.respro.com/products/urban...ing/city_mask/

Oh my. Ride around in my neighborhood like that and you will be mistaken for a burglar.

I have been told by an OSHA speaker that wearing a respirator can contribute getting emphesema.
As for a dust mask, I would probably collapse from the heat if I wore one. Just breathe the pollen and take your allergy meds. Your body can handle the pollen I am sure.

A few years ago when I first came to NorCal my spring allergies were really bad. I bought a QMask (https://groupweston.com/qmask_info.asp) and was very satisfied with it. I was doing about a 8–9 mile roundtrip commute and wearing the mask made a marked difference in the amount of sneezing and eye itching I experienced by the time I got to the office. The mask is washable, which is great, and about the only issue I had was that if it wasn't on me quite right my glasses might fog up a little. I know the website seems a little sketchy but both I and an office-mate have purchased from them with no problems.

Did they talk about the consequences of not wearing one?
Respirators as a cause of chronic lung disease... that's a new one.

https://www.osha.gov/dte/library/respirators/faq.html

I would maybe get one of bandanna with the cool pic on it like you see the motorcycles riders wear. as a full filtration mask..... no not me

Bandana for me. Light enough to breath through, but it filers out the worst of the fumes and dust. It also helps keep me from getting too sunburned on a long ride.

Woah. Are you sure you didn't mis-hear or that they didn't mis-speak?

You're going to have to get some serious hardware if you want to filter out CO and such from cars. A little mask or bandanna is not going to do it.

Yup. Gases like CO and ozone (the really bad actors) aren't absorbed by activated carbon to any appreciable extent. The other vapors that activated carbon will absorb are really that prevalent.

Activated carbon filters also have a limited life. They need to be replaced regularly or they become saturated with what ever you are filtering out. Then they are worse than useless.

Yes, but in my work environment with exhaust fans that do many room changes of air an hour, there really isn't a reason for me to wear it as I stay well below the allowed limits. I am just a trace user of the chemical in my field of work.
Now, if I was working in a chemical factory, where it would be at high concentrations in the air, I probably would wear one.
I don't know the facts of respirators other than what i have been told at OSHA presentations by consultants. I was just telling what was told to me.

More expensive than a bandana, but easier to use is "Buff Multifunction Headwear". I use them as a helmet sock, but they can be worn a number of different ways. Easy to put around your neck and pull up over your nose for air filtration.

https://www.buffusa.com/

You can look like you are a character in Mortal Kombat.

Interesting thread.

And so I did. EnviroSafetyProducts sells the full line of 3M Respirators. I got this model: https://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/...-assembly.html I ride 8 miles along a major highway through 3 towns. Heavy trucks, diesel Pickups, legacy vehicles... nasty. Forty bucks well spent not to have my throat and chest burning after my ride. I feel like a total geek and some days I bareback it and I remember why I bought the mask in the first place. Its been about three months now. When better weather gets here I can take the farm roads north of town and not have to wear the mask.

H

From the 3M literature

Not one word about CO or ozone. And I really doubt that you'd run across SO2, HCl, H2S or HF even on the most hellish commute.