# Activated carbon mask?



## Nont (18 May 2022)

Hi guys,

Probably a weird question here but I need some assurance on chemical I’m about to and had smelled for a couple of time.

So I'm going to get my hair permed tomorrow since my hair is almost going straight again. And I don’t want to inhale any chemical in it.
 I was wondering if Disposable carbon face mask can protect me from inhaling too much of curling perm? (Ammonium thioglycolate)

#Bonus questions: Is “Thanks in advance” rude by UK standard?


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## Simon Cole (18 May 2022)

You would require an ABEK1 filter on your mask. The disposable ones are a gimmick.
In reply to your second question: we don't often say "thank you" when we ask a question, but we do use the word "please" quite a bit. Doesn't really matter because we always help each other out just the same.


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## Nick potts (18 May 2022)

Can't help with the 1st question, but I usually add thanks in advance (TIA) if i post a question to the forum)


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## Tim Harrison (18 May 2022)

Simon Cole said:


> You would require an ABEK1 filter on your mask.


Might interfere with your hair do a bit.


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## Yugang (19 May 2022)

No need for full scuba gear, but for an air pump I would recommend Eheim


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## Wookii (19 May 2022)

Nont said:


> Ammonium thioglycolate



I doubt your brief exposure would be sufficient to cause any problems, otherwise the staff in the salons would be dropping like flies.



Nont said:


> I'm going to get my hair permed tomorrow since my hair is almost going straight again



Quite ironic to me given the inordinate amount of time my wifes friends spend trying to straighten their hair! 😂



Nont said:


> #Bonus questions: Is “Thanks in advance” rude by UK standard?



No, its a common courtesy here in the UK too - I use it myself fairly frequently.


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## Nont (21 May 2022)

Wookii said:


> I doubt your brief exposure would be sufficient to cause any problems, otherwise the staff in the salons would be dropping like flies.


I have a fear of cancer, so inhaling something like that worsen my anxiety. 


Wookii said:


> Quite ironic to me given the inordinate amount of time my wifes friends spend trying to straighten their hair! 😂


Everyone around me thinking I’m weird as well. Considering I’m the only teenage male in the salon, wanting a perm and also want this particular haircut


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## Hanuman (23 May 2022)

Nont said:


> I have a fear of cancer, so inhaling something like that worsen my anxiety.


You live in Thailand right? IMO, your fear of cancer due to inhaling ammonia vapors in a salon seems a tad bit irrational. You have virtually 0.0000000000000001 chances (yeah I made that number up) of getting a cancer from that. Now, why did I ask if you lived in Thailand? Well, you should be way more concerned about the pm2.5. That indeed can and will generate cancers and other health issues on the long run, and Thailand is a champion in regards to pm2.5. But hey, I am of the opinion  that we all got to die of something one day. So either you assimilate that or you can live in an European country where pm2.5 remains rather low year round, but then you have other things you could die from 😉

As a side note, weightlifters sniff concentrated ammonia during contests. Maybe not the best example since they usually die sooner than the general population, but it's not because of that, more so because of all the steroids and anabolic substances they inject themselves.


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## xZaiox (24 May 2022)

Hi Hanuman, 


Hanuman said:


> Well, you should be way more concerned about the pm2.5. That indeed can and will generate cancers and other health issues on the long run


I'm sure you meant well by the comment above, but as an FYI, those sorts of comments are not helpful to people with anxiety (which Nont mentioned he has). If this is an actual anxiety disorder, then comments like this are more likely to worsen the fear and provide something else to fixate on, and what you speak of is much less avoidable than the OP's original worry.


Hanuman said:


> IMO, your fear of cancer due to inhaling ammonia vapors in a salon seems a tad bit irrational.


There is often an irrationality to anxiety disorders yes, but the people who deal with it are often more aware of that irrationality than anyone else.


Nont said:


> I have a fear of cancer


@Nont - I can really empathise with you here, cancer is a horrible illness that can be absolutely devastating, so it's natural to fear it. 
Now - Imagine that you spend your whole life worrying about cancer, only to die of a heart attack, or getting hit by a car, or having an allergic reaction to something you had never had before etc. These points are not to say that you should be worried about other stuff, but to simply say that we really don't know how we're going to die, and as @Hanuman said above


Hanuman said:


> But hey, I am of the opinion  that we all got to die of something one day.


The premise of facing our own mortality (i.e death) can be really scary, but it's an inevitability. I wonder how you feel about the idea of death? In my experience, speaking about this sort of thing in counselling/therapy can be really useful. Due to the nature of what you ask in the original post (face mask for hairdressers), I'm getting the sense that your anxiety levels are perhaps difficult to control? Sometimes, it can be better to focus on the anxiety itself, rather than what's making you feel anxious (i.e focusing on reducing anxiety rather than cancer). The issue with focusing on things like cancer is that unfortunately, cancer is not within our control, whereas anxiety is.


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## Hanuman (24 May 2022)

@xZaiox I think you need to take what I said with a grain of salt and come down a notch. There is no ill intentions in my comment and I think I made that clear. My point being that there are always other things to worries about in life, ammonia vapors in a salon not being one of them. My philosophy of life is one needs to take things lightly and not jump to make thing serious and nuclear. Also this is plant forum, not a psychiatrist couch. It's interesting though how people get offended so easily.

If, you @Nont, felt offended or hurt, then please do let me know and my apologies will go straight to you. My intentions were clearly to let you know that you have nothing to fear about salon air!


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## xZaiox (24 May 2022)

Hanuman said:


> There is no ill intentions in my comment and I think I made that clear.


Of course, as I said in my reply, I'm sure you meant well, it did come across as you just wanting to help. All I was pointing out was a comment that could have the opposite effect.


Hanuman said:


> My point being that there are always other things to worries about in life, ammonia vapors in a salon not being one of them.


I completely agree, which is why I quoted your point of "we all got to die of something one day".


Hanuman said:


> My philosophy of life is one needs to take things lightly and not jump to make thing serious and nuclear.


Unfortunately, this is not something easy for everyone. As you had pointed out originally, there can sometimes be an irrationality to anxiety, and it can be easy to feed into that irrationality.


Hanuman said:


> Also this is plant forum, not a psychiatrist couch.


My apologies if I have caused any offense, I'm currently studying counselling skills myself and I can appreciate that perhaps this is not the most appropriate forum for that. At the same time, the OP has mentioned anxiety and is seeking help in this post for what realistically amounts to anxiety (i.e avoiding cancer), and this post is also in the 'off-topic' section. I am simply trying to help, as you are.


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## Hanuman (24 May 2022)

Let's not make this about me being offended because we know that's not the case. Nont is the primary concern here. I will reiterate, if you, @Nont were offended by my post, I will happily and wholeheartedly apologize to you, if not, then all this is moot.


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## Simon Cole (24 May 2022)

Hanuman said:


> It's interesting though how people get offended so easily.


It's been a bit more of a thing after the pandemic lockdowns. I was just communicating with a friend who is going help as a morris dancer and she wrote this: 
_"Busy packing tonight for working in south Wales this week, then Chippenham Folk Festival next weekend, which *feels very scary now*. I'm not used to crowds now, or being with people that much at all... I don't think I'll be going to any indoor things at all... Just helping with Wild Thyme outdoors, and maybe watching the other Morris dancing..."_​
Interestingly, I probably suffer from both conditions. Morris dancing and anxiety, just at different points in time. This was me a few years ago: 




Now, I'm quite a bit changed. It's a knock-on from pandemic. But I need to get my bells back on and get those hankies out again. 
My mental health history is too shocking to reveal publicly yet, but after a few beers I may let spill. 
And *do play this* while you enjoy the UKAPS forum:


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## Hanuman (24 May 2022)

Simon Cole said:


> Morris dancing


Not being an Englishman I had to google and youtube what Morris dancing is.


> Morris dancing is a celebration, a display of dance and music performed at seasonal festivals and holidays *to banish the dark of winter, celebrate the warmth and fertility of summer, and bring in autumn's golden harvest*.


I was teleported to the 15th century and I've learnt something today.


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## Simon Cole (24 May 2022)

@Hanuman Yes that's about right.
My old side Brackley Morris used to pickup dancers from my old town (Buckingham) and the villages where I grew up, and they certainly started some time before the 1560s.

Generally, we used to turn up outside a pub, do a few dances, go in and play music... and then repeat at the next pub... generally repeating this often... usually over the course of a day.  >  > 
This we do outside of the seasonal festivals. Generally as often as possible, whatever day of the year. Sometimes you get dozens of sides meeting up, big parties, dancing, and fun.
Many villages and town have traditional dances, and we get involved in lots of odd things like rushbearing, well dressing (those things you collect water from), maypoles, processions, wassails; some of the sides are quite strange indeed (e.g. Abbots Bromley). The styles are still fairly regionalised , and I've got mates who do rapper or molly, it all varies.

Now a mate of mine wants me to start a new Morris side. I like a lot of the traditions, but I want to do something a bit more progressive shall we say. I'm getting more and more influenced by great English melodeon music (do check this guy out) and traditional American folk tunes. I also like shirts that are a bit more forgiving than formal shite shirts (workers shirts with double sleeve seams, no collar) and probably breeches. We are a lot more disinhibited than a lot of older dancers, and we just want good times down pubs 🍻 and at festivals where anything goes, which is a bit different to how stymie and aloof a lot of sides can be. I would recommend it.


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## Simon Cole (24 May 2022)

Simon Cole said:


> formal shite shirts


I really either shouldn't read back over my posts, or I should check them more thoroughly in the first place. That was of course a typo. Sorry. My bad.


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## Wookii (24 May 2022)

Nont said:


> I have a fear of cancer, so inhaling something like that worsen my anxiety.



I suspect we all have a fear of cancer - its a very common and frequently devastating illness, but if you look at statistics, it's not something that necessarily needs to be on your radar at your age. You also have to consider the risk factors - the incredibly brief exposure to these chemicals in the entirety of your lifespan makes them virtually a zero risk. Focus on the things you can have a positive impact on - diet and exercise have been shown to be some of the most important indicators relating to cancer and heart disease - the main killers of us men - along with many other diseases. Keep fit and eat healthily, and you will slash your cancer risks dramatically.



Nont said:


> Everyone around me thinking I’m weird as well. Considering I’m the only teenage male in the salon, wanting a perm and also want this particular haircut



Hey, my kids have sent mine half grey, so I'm not judging - even more so as a Star Wars fan !-If its good enough for Jean Claude Van-Damme and Nick Cage, it's good enough for anyone!


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## Hanuman (24 May 2022)

@Wookii Careful there, you might offend short-non-waxed-hair people.


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## not called Bob (24 May 2022)

Simon Cole said:


> View attachment 189040


oh my, if you can replicate the feet using hemp rather than cotton handkerchiefs, you have made a mode of transport that will have only a tiny carbon impact and also massively lower water needs than current flying fabric attempts


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## xZaiox (24 May 2022)

Wookii said:


> Focus on the things you can have a positive impact on - diet and exercise have been shown to be some of the most important indicators relating to cancer and heart disease - the main killers of us men - along with many other diseases. Keep fit and eat healthily, and you will slash your cancer risks dramatically.


This is great advice, sometimes channelling that nervous energy into a productive one can help people to relax and be able to say "hey, I'm taking proactive steps in reducing those odds" - great for helping people regain a sense of order of their inner world. Exercise has also shown to have direct effects on anxiety symptoms alone.


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