“This is me wearing a half face ABEK-P3 respirator with multi-gas filters.
I wear my “ALLERGY PATIENT” vest to identify my mask as a “medical necessity”. It helps a lot with preventing unkind comments and odd looks from people, and hopefully will help people ask before shooting in times of terrorist threats.
I’m holding my clean air helmet in my right hand. The blower unit is normally worn on the back and is only in front for the photo.
This gives a greater protection and is more “public friendly” but is also expensive to run, and to buy. Plus it is bulky and has a problem with low temperature and high humidity (air flow sensors go crazy and the filter granulate clumps up). It draws 200 liters/minute 44 gal/minute.
In my left hand, I hold my full face respirator that comes along as a back-up and in case of calamities.
The hi-tech air helmet has a protection factor of 500 compared to 50 on the half face mask.
The air helmet blower unit can fail, the battery can run low etc., so by having the full face mask I have a back up that has a protection factor of 2000 for gases and vapors and 1000 for particular matter.
I carry it in a shoulder bag with me in winter time when the air is so polluted that the half mask won’t do and it is too cold for the air helmet. I go out with the full face mask wearing my allergy patient vest.
There are prescription glasses clipped to the mask, because I do wear this frequently.
The first time I went out on the streets with a mask was the hardest, but after I experienced the health benefits of wearing one (no reaction to pollutants or smells) I don’t give a * what others think of it now.
I carry business cards printed in Dutch and English:
“I am MCS patient, synthetic fragrances make me sick.
(with the MCS Aware site, a Dutch url, and a German url)
Thank you for understanding”
I hand these cards out to people who ask me about my mask.
~ Rolf Aerssens
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For more info on masks see:
When We HAVE to Wear A Mask to Breathe and Function
Please take action in whatever way you can to ensure we ALL have the right to a healthy environment, and so industries are stopped from polluting us for profit.
also, please
Be fragrance-free. It’s good for you, it’s good for me.
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P.S. … I have no control over the ads or the RELATED posts shown below.
Seriously "Sensitive" to Pollution 
Thank you Rolf for the information could you tell me where you bought all this gear. I doubt I could afford the blower but sure would like to have ” the full face mask I have a back up that has a protection factor of 2000 for gases and vapors and 1000 for particular matter.”
I am using a half face mask by msa with recommended filters … recommended by the msa dealer… not a doctor. I had various 3m products and masks before I settled on this one which I find the most comfortable generally… tho it is not 100% protective. There are better filters but apparently they will only sell them to fire fighters… sale is prohibited ..I guess they suspect I could be a terrorist or some such thing.
Can these items be purchased online?
Hi Sandy. I don’t know if Rolf will see this comment so I will answer as best I can…
All these things can be purchased online from safety supply stores.
The full face powered respirators are known as PAPR for short (forget what the PA part stands for).
They are expensive and not everyone tolerates all of the components.
Here’s a post from a woman who uses a modified version that she found works well for her, the 2nd image details the components:
https://www.countrysidedrive.com/Breathe/n-qZGz9g/