Bandanas &Surgical Masks Will Not Protect You From Wildfire Smoke, You’d Need A Particulate Respirator

During last year's fires, I saw many people in Fort Collins wearing masks and bandanas around their mouths to try and protect their lungs from smoke, but wearing things like that will not actually protect your lungs from wildfire smoke. You would actually need a particulate respirator.

Just so you know: a bandana, a surgical mask or a one-strap dust mask WILL NOT protect your lungs from wildfire smoke! According to a release from the New Mexico Department of Health you need to have a two strap mask called a ‘particulate respirator’ that has the word “NIOSH” and says either “N95″ or P100″ to actually protect your lungs from wildfire smoke.

You can read about NIOSH-approved particulate filters from the CDC here.

A quick Google shopping search finds a number of them for sale for anywhere from $2-$50 apiece and it looks like they are even carried in places like Home Depot, Office Depot, and Walgreens.

So, if you need to go out in the smoke and you want to protect your lungs, make sure you do it right.