Chain Smoking

Birdman

Active member
Jan 29, 2013
239
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I went to the hospital in Santiago as I felt really ill and I couldn't breathe. I was given a list of doctors to visit and I went through several tests including a heart ultrasound and lung CT scan. The doctor looked at my scan and told me I should stop smoking as my lungs were badly scarred and I had COPD and permanent damage. I said that I didn't smoke but she was thinking that I hung around in bars all day drinking and getting second hand smoke.
In our apartment for over a year we noticed that our feet were getting dirty with a kind of tar. We had to mop the floor a lot. We agreed that we were getting bad air. We rented an apartment in Cabarete and started to exercise on the beach - walking and swimming. I still have a discomfort in my chest but I can breathe ok.
We were in Ochoa and found some Samsung air purifiers. We bought one and took it home. I turned it on and the light on top said that the air was dirty but after a time I managed to clean the apartment. I bought an air tester from Ebay and we just picked it up. It gives you a lot more idea what you are dealing with.
A couple of weeks ago we came back to our apartment and the air purifier was showing red which means the air is totally toxic. Our feet were black. I left the purifier on all night in the bedroom to breathe and we went back to Cabarete after picking up out tester. In pro-cab the tester showed excellent air quality but when it blew it showed gasoline fumes in the air.
We came back to our apartment yesterday and the air feels good and the tester says that we have better air qualtiy than Cabarete. That is probably because I took all the particles from the air before. The purifier also removes formaldehyde which is associated with new apartments and furniture. Whatever was pumping out the toxic fumes seems to not be functioning just now.
This is just a warning that it might be a good idea to get an air-purifier if you live away from the coast.
 

Birdman

Active member
Jan 29, 2013
239
33
28
I forgot to mention that we have hardly been living in Santiago recently. We just had a visit from Edenorte saying that our meter was reading low so they have to adjust it. My wife told them that we haven't been here. I just hope they understood.
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
32,573
6,000
113
dr1.com
I know here in Jarabacoa everything is covered in a fine dust within hours of cleaning, even when there is no Sahara dust.
 

Kipling333

Bronze
Jan 12, 2010
2,528
829
113
Thank you Birdman..That was most informative and I must buy one just for my bedroom because the air at night at present is horrible. For many years I had a lovely old home in Zona Colonial and I put two layers of fly wire on every window to try and stop the polluted air entering the house.
 

Birdman

Active member
Jan 29, 2013
239
33
28
They have replacement filters in Ochoa and you can get them on-line. They last 6 to 12 months but I bought a spare for 4000 pesos.
 
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Sailor51

Happy to still be here
Oct 30, 2018
633
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Has anyone tried to track down the source? Or is it mostly traffic related?
I lived near a highway and black rubber dust was a problem there.
 

reilleyp

Well-known member
Dec 12, 2006
1,203
677
113
I went to the hospital in Santiago as I felt really ill and I couldn't breathe. I was given a list of doctors to visit and I went through several tests including a heart ultrasound and lung CT scan. The doctor looked at my scan and told me I should stop smoking as my lungs were badly scarred and I had COPD and permanent damage. I said that I didn't smoke but she was thinking that I hung around in bars all day drinking and getting second hand smoke.
In our apartment for over a year we noticed that our feet were getting dirty with a kind of tar. We had to mop the floor a lot. We agreed that we were getting bad air. We rented an apartment in Cabarete and started to exercise on the beach - walking and swimming. I still have a discomfort in my chest but I can breathe ok.
We were in Ochoa and found some Samsung air purifiers. We bought one and took it home. I turned it on and the light on top said that the air was dirty but after a time I managed to clean the apartment. I bought an air tester from Ebay and we just picked it up. It gives you a lot more idea what you are dealing with.
A couple of weeks ago we came back to our apartment and the air purifier was showing red which means the air is totally toxic. Our feet were black. I left the purifier on all night in the bedroom to breathe and we went back to Cabarete after picking up out tester. In pro-cab the tester showed excellent air quality but when it blew it showed gasoline fumes in the air.
We came back to our apartment yesterday and the air feels good and the tester says that we have better air qualtiy than Cabarete. That is probably because I took all the particles from the air before. The purifier also removes formaldehyde which is associated with new apartments and furniture. Whatever was pumping out the toxic fumes seems to not be functioning just now.
This is just a warning that it might be a good idea to get an air-purifier if you live away from the coast.
It sounds like you got a good air purifier. Can you tell me which Samsung model you bought?
 

JD Jones

Moderator:North Coast,Santo Domingo,SW Coast,Covid
Jan 7, 2016
11,878
8,262
113
Peter, I bought a HEPA air purifier a couple of months ago. It's a Levoit 200S and is one of the top rated purifiers on Amazon.

It was very easy to set up, and you can even control it with an Alexa if you have one.