Haze and wearing masks

The haze from the forest fires in Indonesia that has blanketed Cebu has persisted for over a week already. Yesterday as I was driving through the South Road Properties, I saw a pall of smog that obscured the urban landscape and the hills behind it.

Being very sensitive to smoke pollution and susceptible to its ill effects, I had learned the lesson behind a similar severe haze event in 2015 the hard way. That incident forced me to stay indoors for days, hampering my work, and at one point even had me rushing to our hometown north of the province to avoid the haze in the city.

Thus, today in the car are tools that help me deal with the haze outside: N95 masks, a PM2.5 air quality sensor, and a portable air purifier. These are items I ordered from online shops, and these allow me to do my work unhampered amid the haze blanketing the city.

Not any kind of mask is effective against haze pollution; it has to be an N95 mask because that’s the only mask that can filter out 95 percent of very small (0.3 micron) airborne particles. You may buy them in hardware shops or order one online. Its price is not expensive but is not cheap either. Thus, Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella has fittingly directed the City Health Office to distribute N95 masks for free to residents who need one.

In over a week that I have been wearing an N95 mask in public, I observed that it has its upsides and downsides. The obvious upside is that it keeps me from breathing in polluted air. Another plus is that it protects me from the airborne germs in this season of colds and flu.

The downsides are few but something that I find quite disturbing. And that is why I’m taking this haze event as an opportunity to share something which I think should become a common hygiene practice in the country: wearing masks in public.

The problem lies in how we treat people who wear masks. We avoid or treat with suspicion those who wear these masks. It’s often a good thing actually for me – like being left alone by salespeople in a mall.

But this attitude of being scared of people wearing face masks is not good. In other Asian countries, it’s common to see people wearing masks in public. Wearing masks is a way to prevent the spread of disease. If you have the sniffles, a mask can protect others; in perfect health, a mask can protect yourself.

An incident that amused me the most happened at the entrance of a mall where the security guard asked me to remove my mask. The obvious fact that I did not possess any weapon or dangerous item was apparently not enough for the security staff. I had to show my full face.

So at the entrance of a bank one hazy afternoon, I didn’t wait for any instruction. I took a deep breath, removed my mask, held my breath for a minute, and greeted the security guards with a bizarre kind of smile (try holding your breath while trying to smile).

Once inside, I took out my portable air quality sensor which promptly showed an above-normal reading of 53. Just to avoid suspicious eyes, I didn’t put my mask back on.

Meanwhile, scientists say climate change will increase the incidence of forest fires and haze in Asia. See, that’s what I’m talking about; it’s time to make wearing of masks common and fashionable.