post-tephra catchment care

[kalianna]

On the plus side, Iʻm wondering it it might be useful fertilizer, assuming it ever rains again.

[ironyak]

When trying to find info about randomq's question about what to do for pets (who too like to walk barefoot in the yard), there was this recent and related HVO post:

https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/n...ir-hazards
"You may be wondering if there are steps you need to take regarding vehicles, pets and children being outside, grazing livestock, or water catchment systems if you live in an area that has been affected by Pele’s Hair.
...
Pele’s hair doesn’t wash off of grassy areas as easily as ash and might impact grazing animals, but there are no studies of these impacts. If you are concerned, considered supplementing your animals’ feed or relocating them to an area where Pele’s Hair did not fall. Pele’s Hair could be beneficial to pasture growth in the long term."

which links to: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanic_ash/...tures.html
"It has been reported that when ashfall is made up of fine grained particles with thicknesses less than 50 mm (2 in) the ash acts like a mulch, increasing pasture yield (Wilson, 2009)."

Hopefully enough breadcrumbs there to follow for anyone interested, although not much info about what, if anything, that could be done for the outdoor pets... plenty of kitten mittens and pooch boots?

[randomq]

Thanks Ironyak. I was surprised by the lack of official advice in 2018 as well. We've been keeping our dogs mostly indoors, with a rug by the door to minimize them tracking things in. Tromped around the yard in boots and then blasted it with the hose, so hopefully anything big has been broken up and settled under the ground cover. I'd love to spray down my roof too, but we're on a smaller catchment and will probably wait for the rain to help.

[Durian Fiend]

It seems that the small, shiny hairs remain in circulation about Puna. A friend reported his car hood had plenty of it after a trip to Keaau yesterday, and this was after a thorough washing on the previous day.

[ironyak]

And the hairs are still flying so the Pahoa Pool remains closed with the coconut telegraph saying it'll be a few weeks at least before it opens. (maybe someone who speaks marmot can translate Phil's prediction for six more weeks of winter into local terms - does that mean more Kona winds and volcanic ash, or possibly some trade winds and rain to help rinse things down?)

https://www.kwxx.com/2026/02/02/pahoa-co...to-tephra/
"Pele’s hair continues to collect in the pool as it is blown from the roofs of nearby structures, from nearby trees, and across open areas of the park..."

[knieft]

I was talking to Todd at Uncle Tilo’s plumbing and he was less concerned about any effects on catchment, which would just fall to bottom of tank for the most part. He was trying get Civil Defense to emphasize that one should be wearing a good mask when cleaning anything up after seeing video of folks in volcano village sweeping up accumulation without any lung protection.

Those dusty metal bits get in the lungs and don’t come out, similar to asbestos.

Something to consider.

Cheers,
Kirt

[Durian Fiend]

I was talking to Todd at Uncle Tilo’s plumbing and he was less concerned about any effects on catchment, which would just fall to bottom of tank for the most part. He was trying get Civil Defense to emphasize that one should be wearing a good mask when cleaning anything up after seeing video of folks in volcano village sweeping up accumulation without any lung protection.

Those dusty metal bits get in the lungs and don’t come out, similar to asbestos.

Something to consider.

Cheers,
Kirt

Yes it is.  Anyone having breathing problems?  Some of the very fine, dark colored tephra particles have been blown into our house in the past couple days.  It stands out against the white laminate countertop.  

I'm hoping the forecasts for rain next weekend pan out.  Dry and windy is not pleasant rainforest weather.

[ironyak]

It is so windy out there, (...), it's so windy that I saw two mejiro birds fly by, and they were going backwards! (true story, also a few 'io out there riding the airwaves).

The Punaweb word(salad) of the day is: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis - which, although made up for puzzling reasons, is meant to describe any silicosis/pneumo­coniosis-like disease caused by the inhalation of volcanic crystalline silica.

When you go digging past wikipedia, you run into a couple interesting items like:
The structure of volcanic cristobalite in relation to its toxicity...
"Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) continues to pose a risk to human health worldwide. Its variable toxicity depends on inherent characteristics and external factors which influence surface chemistry. Significant population exposure to RCS occurs during volcanic eruptions, where ashfall may cover hundreds of square km and exposure may last years.
...
Exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) has been known for centuries to be detrimental to health, and is linked to respiratory diseases such as silicosis, lung cancer and tuberculosis. However, when classifying crystalline silica as a Group 1 carcinogen, the IARC Working Group recognised that silica dusts are variably hazardous and that their carcinogenicity may depend on inherent characteristics of the silica, and/or external factors which affect the particle surface and biological activity."

TLDR: Inhaling volcanic silica ash can be generally bad for your health, but exactly how bad depends on the size, shape, and chemical composition of the ash. For those that are mask adverse, you can run Backscanning Electron microscopy on your local samples to better determine the long-term health implications - lots of avenues of inquiry for the "do your own research" crowd.

Have seen online and heard in person several complaints about breathing issues but with the vog levels being elevated periodically from Volcano to Hilo recently, it may be from a whole mix of causes. Personally, as I've been out clearing some trees that fell across from the neighboring lots, I've kept an KN95/N95 on so that all the grit that's been ending up on my hands, arms, face, etc, during the process doesn't end up in the lungs as well.

[ironyak]

Trib has a story about the ongoing tephra clean-up. It notes someone fell 20+ ft (ouch!) and broke their wrist when trying to clean their roof in Volcano. Also mentioned the use of a backpack (leaf?)blower, but nothing about masks or other PPE, so apparently few people, including the journalist Burnett, checked with DOH, USGS, Civil Defense, or even Todd at Uncle Tilo's, about best practices when dealing with volcanic ash.

[My 2 cents]

I don't think there is a more inappropriate method of removal than a leaf blower. I couldn't read the article, but if Burnett actually suggested using a leaf blower he should be flogged.