Using a shirt as a gas mask

From BearWiki

Claim: A shirt will not protect you against volcanic gasses.

Let's quickly do a comparison of gas masks designed for stopping chemicals versus a shirt:

Gas mask:

• Seals tightly around the nose and mouth
• Contains a micron-scale particulate filter to remove dust
• Activated carbon reacts with many toxic compounds, neutralizing them:
• Other filter barriers for specific toxins

Shirt:

• Porous. Generally lets everything but macroscopic dust through.
• Multiple layers of fine-weave cloth can reduce concentrations of certain bacteria when water is strained through it, but only because they tend to be attached to particulates and plankton.[1]
• Largely inert; will not react with gasses of any kind.

A shirt simply is not a gas mask. The toxic gasses from volcanoes, such as sulfur oxides and sulfuric, hydrogen chloride and hydrochloric acid, carbon monoxide, asphyxiating carbon dioxide, and so on, simply have no chemical means to react with a shirt, nor are they even close to being too large for the weave to block.

There may be some logic to using a wet shirt as a gas mask (sulfur oxides and hydrogen chloride can be absorbed into water), but I am unable to locate a study suggesting that even this is effective. If you are having trouble breathing, don't waste time messing with your shirt -- get out of there.

[edit] Analysis

Oppose: Wettened cloth is certainly beneficial at preventing the inhalation of certain volcanic gasses. I personally used this technique to good effect while spending a number of hours sampling fumerole temperatures on the active volcano of Vulcano in Italy. A number of the volcanic gasses are easily disolved in water, and a number are only actually in a gaseous state because of their temperature; impact with wet cloth allows a transfer of latent heat which allows the gasses to precipitate out.

Observation: It is really irresponsible for anybody doing measurements in a volcanic area where gases are present not to wear a respirator which has been approved for the gases in the area. In fact, it is illegal not to provide the proper safety equipment along with safety training in their use in the United States. Putting one's health at risk by using a piece of cloth, dry or wet, is reckless. Sulfur dioxide dissolves in the moisture in the throat and lungs to form sulfuric acid, which is what causes the burning sensation if inhaled in concentrated form. It would also form sulfuric acid in a wet fabric and now you would have the additional problem of skin burns on your face. In addition, the moisture in the fabric can only dissolve a finite amount of sulfur dioxide and would be quickly saturated, thus allowing the full amount to pass on to the lungs after a short time. It is more likely that people who claim that a piece of fabric filters out volcanic gases are mainly breathing water vapor, which is the principal gas emitted from volcanic vents.

Support: From Hawaii State Department of Health: "FOR VOG and ASH ONLY: A damp cloth, or a paper, gauze surgical or non-toxic dust mask may be helpful. BUT if you find it more difficult to breathe with the mask on, don't use it. THESE MASKS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE IN REMOVING GASES SUCH AS SULFUR DIOXIDE (SO2)." http://hawaii.gov/health/about/reports/vog_qa.pdf

Neutral: In this particular case, the shirt does almost nothing, but in general if you think the air is contaminated in some way, it's better a wet piece of clothe than nothing.

Support: If it's not just a personal opinion, provide verifiable references as to why a wet piece of cloth is better than nothing as it applies to removing sulfur dioxide and other volcanic gases which are unhealthy to breathe. Will it also remove other gases such as oxygen?

Support: Why are you guys talking about why it works or why it doesn't work? It didn't have to work, the volcanic gases were simulated with fog machines.