Deal breaker

[shockwave rider]

quote:

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Originally posted by DanielP

Vog coming from Puu Oo goes Southwest, out to sea and back over kona side. If Vog came from the flow farther down the hill, it would smack into Nanawale and the rest of lower Puna :-(

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Except when there are no trade winds the VOG just puddles up in Puna or blows to Hilo. Trades are supposed to come back early next week after variable gusty conditions today and tomorrow.

[kimo wires]

Halemaumau was the deal breaker for my Cousin who was an elementary teacher in Kona for the last 30 years. She said that before it blew out the air quality in kona was never a big problem but after that the vog doubled up. And they couldn't take it anymore. They moved to Idaho.

[pam jones]

This I can say with certainty, NOT moving to Idaho! We already run the dehumidifier and air machine. My beef is not always being able to go sit on the lanai and enjoy the awakening day with a cup of coffee or work in the yard when it is sunny. I just wonder how many days per year this will be a real problem and what other peoples tolerance level is? Not britching, mostly prambling (Pamism for ponder and rambling, I suppose).

[pandp]

Hmm, I moved here from Idaho. It had nothing to do with air quality tho, air temperature yes! Just in case anyone tires of air quality here tho I've got thirty acres and a house for ya!

[Carey]

We have had a few friends that have had to decide to leave because of air quality, from both sides of the island...

One thing I have noticed is that is that air quality effects each person differently, one couple that was very active in watersports had moved here because the east side was purported to have the cleanest air & he had breathing problems mainland. They lived in lower HPP for a couple of years, pre-current flows & pre Halemaumau crater opening, in fact there were no flows for much of the time.

His breathing was fine but HER breathing became a very serious issue, as she had several severe asthma flair-ups that put her in the hospital. They returned mainland for her health, as she was very sensitized to trace VOG levels, yet he had no reaction to the VOG...

[dakine]

I feel advice to dip cloth in baking soda and hang over window openings is lame. I can't believe that as long as volcanos have been a part of human history (uh, since day #1, I'm sure), there isn't enough data from anywhere to give sound and concrete advice.

Isn't it amazing that there are two very well paid positions at HVO in their geochem department and for the last 30 years those employed there have done practically nothing, and added even less to the public's understanding of the issues involved with volcanic gases. Especially when compared to the geology, deformation, and seismic departments who have done awesome.. revolutionary.. things to further our understanding of volcanoes, and Hawaiian volcanoes in particular.

[geochem]

Pam, the concrete sound advice is to close up the house and run a dehumidifier or AC until air quality improves - most people can't afford to do that and so the "poor man's" baking soda and cheesecloth air cleaner came to be.

There is also a much less widely recognized threat to respiratory health in Lower Puna: mold and mildew. If you google toxic mold you'll get quite a few hits - and this courtesy of CDC:
"In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people; with asthma symptoms in people with asthma; and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition. The IOM also found limited or suggestive evidence linking indoor mold exposure and respiratory illness in otherwise healthy children. "

The AC/dehumidifier will take care of a lot of that problem, but is needed 24/7 during the monsoon season in Puna.

In the past, I have analyzed air particulate samples in LP and some consisted of >90% mold/fungal spores and microscopic organic matter. I had to relocate out of LP after renting down there for a couple of years because the house was permeated with mold and mildew - I could feel my bronchial system react every time I walked into the house.

If someone is sensitive to some of the molds that are endemic to LP, then the best, if not the most welcome advice is to find somewhere else to live.

[lavarat]

" I could feel my bronchial system react every time I walked into the house. "

This happened to me also in a house I was going to rent in Volcano Village. It was made of logs and had shag carpeting. I had signed a lease and thought I could get rid of the mildew and tobacco smell by leaving a couple of box fans running day and night before I moved in. It didn't work. They were doing work on the house and it wasn't ready at moving time, so I was able to get out of the lease and get my deposit back. It was a learning experience about how quickly mold can affect one's health and how hard it is to get rid of it. On the other hand, I did a lot of lava hiking and the gases didn't bother me unless I was close to a vent and then I wore a respirator.

[terracore]

I used to breathe fine until I moved into a house that was built in the late 1800's. I didn't immediately notice that the tightness I began feeling in my chest started happening about the same time I moved into that house. The house had a musty old basement and one day I decided to clean it up. A few hours later I was at a doctor's office with shortness of breath. They didn't tell me it was because of mold/mildew exposure, but I eventually figured that out on my own. I moved out of that house to SE Alaska, the mold and mildew capital of the world. (Imagine being as damp as Hawaii but being unable to open your windows for fresh air because it was too cold). Filters helped, a little, but eventually I moved here into the occasional vog. Things are definitely better here. I live in a newer house and we almost never close the windows. We don't have a mold/mildew problem and we also don't have carpet. There are probably places here I could never live (like Volcano or Kona) unless I wanted to accept having respiratory problems.

[Kapohocat]

My deal breaker isnt the air quality and we are lucky that we do not get most of the poor air as often as other places. Also I grew up in Burbank so the air here is 99% of the time better than a great day there.

My deal breaker is --- Starbucks. I always told hubby the day Starbucks comes to Pahoa is the day I am finding someone where else ...