vince pitelka on sat 14 apr 01
> I too have had a beard for thirty or so years, though I must admit for
quite
> a few years it was all but invisible. I don't moisten my beard but I do
keep
> it very short when I need to wear a mask. I find that the contact area
> between the mask and beard rapidly becomes moist with sweat any way.
> Recently I needed CAT scans of my lungs because I was having complications
> from broken ribs. I mentioned to the radiologist that I was curious about
> the condition of my lungs as I work with silica laden products all the
time.
> Result very clean lungs. No shadowing or scars etc. I have also been a
> life-long non-smoker.
Feri makes a very good point. I also have never smoked, and I have spent
most of my life living in areas where the air is very clean. Much potential
lung damage is cumulative - silica plus smoking plus air polution plus
whatever else we breath. When I see any of my students smoking I say "So,
you are not planning on a career in ceramics, huh?" I tell them that the
reality is that smoking and ceramics do not mix, at all. A smokers lungs do
not have the capacity to expel ANY foreign particles, and thus everything
inhaled becomes cumulative.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
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