14 replies

1. bkardell 2 min later

   @zachleat probably even masked you could tell if you get close to them.

   1. Zach Leatherman 6 min later

      @bkardell so I need to upgrade my mask, is what I’m hearing

      1. bkardell 11 min later

         @zachleat I just mean that in my life I have quit smoking twice and then realized just how incredibly noticeable/powerful the smell is

         1. Zach Leatherman 23 min later

            @bkardell oh yeah I bet! It affects your sense of smell too, right?

            1. Dym Sohin 36 min later

               @zachleat @bkardell sense of smell itself depends on how massive mucus layer is in the nose, which is not always correlated with smoking, but does often adjusts to smell of smoke up to a point where it is fully ignored, by becoming a new base level;
               similar as with the taste of alcohol

   2. L. David Baron 2 hr later

      @bkardell @zachleat One of the weird experiences I had early in the pandemic was walking in a well fitted N95 past a smoker and smelling some of the components of cigarette smoke with the other components removed.

      Haven't tried with the P100...

      1. bkardell 7 hr later

         @dbaron @zachleat Oh? Did it actually smell different? I hadn't imagined that was a possibility

         1. L. David Baron 7 hr later

            @bkardell @zachleat Totally different. If I had to describe it, I'd say much less smoky and much more chemical.

            1. Amelia Bellamy-Royds 9 hr later

               @dbaron @bkardell @zachleat Yeah, it's definitely interesting which smells come through the mask and which don't! I notice it in the garden, and also in public toilets.

               (It's based on the size of the molecule, of course, but that doesn't have anything to do with the subjective experience of the smell.)

               1. L. David Baron 16 hr later

                  @AmeliaBR @bkardell @zachleat With a P100 I don't smell anything in public bathrooms, as far as I remember.

                  1. Amelia Bellamy-Royds 22 hr later

                     @dbaron At least with the N95: Poop smells are blocked well; fart smells are not. 😝

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3. cthos 🐱 9 hr later

   @zachleat interestingly enough the cough is probably distinct enough to tell the difference (according to a single study I read once and the disease they compared to was general upper respiratory infection but hey neat research)