RespiratorMask-was: putting clothes, towels in the sun

[Guest guest]

Hi Debbie and Group-

 

I am the most blessed person to have had the most amazing people and

resources surrounding me during this MCS journey.  At the top of the list was

becoming a patient of Dr Sherry before she retired and I owe her my

life.  Between her and all her books, that was the beginning of pointing me in

the right direction of finding what works for me.

 

I know, finding a mask can be a bear cause of all the rubber and plastic that

are in most of them. In my case, I've had luck with 3M.  I got my original

3M6300 mask through a friend who already had hers for quite some time.  It's

kinda like this one:

http://www.allergybegone.com/3m62halresga.html

I didn't have a quality voc filtering mask at that time and was facing a project

involving scary stuff.  So she let me borrow hers and it worked so well that I

kept hers and bought her a brand new one.   It is a stiffer rubber than

it's upgraded model which as a general rule, the softer the plastic the more

offgassing.  So this model might be better for some.

 

A local OSHA dealer introduced me to it's upgraded version which is model

3M7502, the one I have now and just love it. 

http://www.allergybegone.com/3m7502.html

It is the most comfortable mask I have ever worn.  His was old stock and had

been hanging around for a year or two but still had that new plastic thing to

it.  So with that one I did a bakeout and was able to wear it pretty quickly.  I

liked it so much that later when re-ordering cartridges, I went ahead and

bought a couple more masks as my back ups.  When I find something I like/works,

I buy multiples of it then bake off the primary one I need to use immediately

and leave the extras airing out for years until I need them.  And such is the

case with this mask.  My backup masks are somewhere around 1 year old so

hopefully will be able to tolerate when I eventually need them. 

 

When a cartridge needs to be replaced, changing to a new one can be a challenge

as mine have the carbon/HEPA combo which can be bothersome.  Also of obvious

utmost importance is filtration performance w/the cartridge itself.  I have

tried numerous cartridges that are compatible with both of my 3M masks

and eventually settled on the 3M6006 MultiGas.  Found a way to

excellerate the new cartridge offgassing and it's worked the best of all the

cartridges I've tried so far:

http://www.allergybegone.com/3mmulgascar6.html

 

The folks who work in the 3M OSHA division are just incredible and very savvy

about their products.  3M makes a bazillion different types/styles of

respirators and perhaps a phone call to them might reveal a mask that may

best suit your rubber sensitivities. Knowing how tech focused they are,

wouldn't surprise me if 3M didn't already have a ceramic or stainless steel

mask in the pipeline...lol....

 

Kudos to you Debbie, for searching and seeking solutions that will work for

you.  No one can give that to us as it's up to us to do the legwork and at

times, feels like a monumental effort. How lucky are we to have the internet

with all these groups and resources to help us along our way and feel so much

less alone during the whole process.

 

Kathy

 

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Posted by: " debh172 " deb172@...   debh172

Sat Jan 8, 2011 9:40 pm (PST)

Kathy,  Thank you for all of the information/ tips. It's very helpful. (I'm just

trying to figure things out and advice like yours...from someone who's already

been there and found solutions is SO helpful!)  I was wanting more information

on respirator masks. What kind works for you? (If you prefer to reply offline,

feel free.)

Thank you,  Debbie H