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SALT LAKE CITY — They're showing up in growing numbers on the streets as the air has thickened, turned a yellowish brown and, in some cases, developed a taste: people wearing masks to protect themselves from breathing in the pollution.
But does wearing a mask make a difference?
Doctors said Thursday not all masks are created equal, and they really only make sense for some people for short periods of time.
"It's not a realistic thing to think that you're going to walk around 24-hours a day with a mask," said Dr. Denitza Blagev, a pulmonologist at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. "I think for the average person, it's probably too much of a bother."
Blagev said the masks do not protect from gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, but some can be effective in blocking PM2.5 particulates.
She recommended "N95" filter masks.
"(Those) are really designed to screen out these really tiny particles," Blagev said.
A 30-pack of 3M N95 filter masks can be found for sale at Amazon.com for less than $15. Blagev did not recommend using basic surgical masks.
"The simple surgical masks people wear over their faces are really not useful (for protecting against pollution) at all," she said.
Other, fancier masks are available, but can cost significantly more. At Beehive Bicycles on Salt Lake City's east side, owner Greg Steele said a mask used by U.S. Olympic athletes in Beijing was selling well in his store.
The I Can Breathe! Honeycomb Mask ACF Sport Kit was selling for a little more than $35 Thursday afternoon. Steele only had one left at midday on Thursday and had ordered another shipment.
"The ones that we stock mostly for riding have a plastic air valve that lets you expire air through the mask," Steele said. "And then it's actually got a cloth cover, so it actually breathes a lot more and the air moves in and out."
Steele said even a few non-cyclists were buying the masks from his store.
Blagev — despite saying most people were better off simply going outside less in the bad air — didn't see harm in someone wearing a mask between the commuter rail and work.
Lay onlookers, however, were harsh in their summation of people who wear the masks outdoors.
"Yeah it looks kinda strange, goofy," said Lisa Kaiser.
Brendan Powell, a tourist from Boston, said he didn't know what he was looking at when he arrived and saw the gunky air. Still, he said he had a hard time justifying donning a mask.
"Kind of a goofball," Powell said of what he would think of a person wearing one. "But if it makes them feel better, why not?"
