Non of the pollution masks fulfilled my expectation. Shocking!

Finally I came to conclusion that non on the commercially available solutions are fitting my lifestyle or expectation. What a shock!

Most of them have following negatives in common:

• Covering your lower half of your face causing you can't recognize the wearers facial expression
• The eyes are not protected, sore eyes and allergies are the common result of pollution exposure
• You can not effectively speak while wearing them because they are dimming the sound of your voice
• The sealing is bad, not uniform and depends how meticulous you put the mask on and wear it
• While you opening your mouth for what ewer reason you are loosing the seal on massive scale
• Beards are off limits
• Any facial expression causes mask leakage
• Nothing (except the smell from outside) alerts you that your mask is leaking
• The mask causes accumulation of humidity, sweat and human fluids inside
• Maintenance is not something the common manufacturer had thought about. You can clean the body (not the filter) of some models manually in an ineffective improvised way. Than hang them to dry :-) 
• The pressure seal is leaving pressure marks on your face and prolonged and repetitive pressure applied to face could irritate the sensitive skin
• The hold of the mask depends on the pressure on the face, tightening it to maximum to be able to preform fast movements like during sport could be very uncomfortable
• Ear straps are no go for me because of the pressure to the ears
• Not sufficient data how the masks perform during not regular air intake like during active sport exercises or child play(soccer, running, catch, playground obstacle course...)
• Not suitable for children. They are not eager to wear the masks because of the design  and wear unconformable and difficulties
• Not suitable for children. Children are loosing the seal on the mask easily and are careless in wearing
• You can not check the sealing of the mask of your child, or repeat the check on the go...
• They are all throw away products in one way or another. The usage damages them and after a while you have to throw them away and buy new one (intention of manufacturer?)
• The applied technology is mostly not the state of the art.

Did I forgot any?

We will start a new page on this blog dedicated to the subject alone. Because I find it a bit disturbing that I did not find a fit.

Please leave in comments below or in comments section on the dedicated page to the subject, what causes you trouble while using the available air pollution protection solutions. Also what might be the solution of your concerns. Also I set up a google form questionnaire where you can rate the importance of the features listed here.

Your Michal.