<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

>Of course you can get sick in a health foods store...flours and granolas and
>cereals, etc. etc. etc. and the dusts from them and the molds.
>
>Then there's the incense, and the candles and the essential oils.  And it
>is filled with plants, that give off mold spores....A charcoal mask would
>help.

I just wanted to say a charcoal mask will DEFINITELY help. I use one
almost everywhere away from home and also at home when doing vacuuming or
reading certain stinky materials such as newspapers (3M type, #9913, dust
and mist respirator). I put the mask on when I go out as routinely as I
put on a hat and coat. Anybody who is suffering from such exposures to
mold, flour or other dust, incense, other scents should definitely give a
charcoal mask a try. The biggest hurdle is psychological -- I have one
friend who is so sensitive to all sorts of stuff but prefers to suffer
and cry and rant rather than "look different" in a mask. Me, I'm into
comfort and good health. The irony is that the food co-op and the "health
food store" are the worst -- I can actually go maskless in most large
regular grocery stores! I imagine it's partly just because the large
stores have high ceilings and lots of aisle space, but also because of
the relative lack of particulates and such in the air. (Unless of course
you wander past moldy potatoes or the dreaded highly scented "laundry and
personal care products" aisles....).

The #9913 even keeps out paint fumes!!! It also keeps out mold, even
though it's not rated for that. I'd never manage to scoop out the
nutritional yeast from the bulk container in the food co-op for my
nutritional-yeast-addicted cats without a mask.... Also I'd never survive
all the other stuff mentioned! I'm not bothered by pollen or car exhausts
when wearing a charcoal mask, either. It's really great and MUCH better
than getting inflamed lungs and killer headaches.... Plus it doubles as a
Halloween costume in season!

Call K-Mart and similar stores and hardware stores and safety supply
stores to find various varieties of charcoal masks to try. They might
have single packages. I like the 3M because it's not plastic (I often
have trouble with the plastics used as holders for other types) and it
also is pretty sturdy and more comfortable than those chintzy pollen/cold
weather masks you might see in hardware stores. I go through about one
per week (they're disposable), although if you are exposed to a huge
amount of perfume or such the charcoal part will be exhausted very
quickly (it will still work fine if your problem is just particulates).
Of course, if particulates are your only problem, you could try all sorts
of simpler masks. I was told about the #9913 by a 3M techie, when I asked
if they had something that would let me read the newspaper (I'm sensitive
to volatiles in the inks, it's a respiratory sensitivity not a skin
reaction), so for me the charcoal is all-important.

If you can't find a local supplier, you can buy the 3M #9913 by the bag
of 20 from Stagg Safety Supply here in Richmond, Indiana (765/966-1027)
-- I asked if they could do this for out-of-towners the last time I
bought a bag. They will ship elsewhere, at least in the US.

                       Peace, Cathy Flick [log in to unmask]

P.S. If anybody is so sensitive to artificial scents that, like me, they
have trouble with the toilet tissue that even though officially unscented
picks up the perfume from the Charmin sitting next to it -- I highly
recommend getting unscented toilet tissue by the case. I actually order a
half case periodically from Seventh Generation (1-800-456-1177) so it is
delivered straight to my door. Walnut Acres is now shipping Seventh
Generation paper products also, there are undoubtedly other mail order
suppliers of unscented tissue. Before, I would paw through the Scott
tissue trying in vain to find uncontaminated ones at the store, and half
the time when getting them home I would realize they were still
contaminated and so unuseable for me.