Goggles that grip the area around the eye work. Those that do not grip allow onion vapor to reach the eye. No better than regular glasses, safety or not.
Better yet, cut off the end of the onion with the stem. That stem contains the vapor producers. Discard the stem. You should then be able to peel and slice the body of the stemless onion. Moi can't emphasize how much easier this relatively simple procedure has made peeling and slicing/chopping onions.
Kipp Barksdale, PhD, retired chemist but still full time cook.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
Try cutting onions with swim goggles on. They work as long as they are over the eyes.
Here's what happened to me just yesterday, which happens to be relevant to the topic. I wear re-usable 2-ply quilter's cotton masks.
I was warming up an aqueous solution over a hot plate. A colleague walked in wanting my opinion. I was just finishing setting up and needed to wait for the solution to warm up. It was at a reasonable point where I could talk, so I entertained his inquiry. After he left, I turned my attention back to the hood where I saw the beaker was boiling. I walked over to the hood to turn down the hot plate. That's when I first smelled the vapors emanating from the beaker.
I quickly realized my colleague had distracted me during set-up and I forgot to turn on the hood (I'm embarrassed to admit it). I quickly shut off the hot plate, turned on the hood, and stepped back for fresh air. As I walked away, I promptly removed my cloth mask thinking the vapors trapped near my nose would dissipate faster. That's when I noticed the smell for a second time. I walked further away just to see how far the smell had spread. It had filled the room without me noticing it. The smell wasn't all that faint either!
I have noticed this effect in other settings as well. Restaurants come to mind. Once I'm seated and remove my mask, the restaurant smells different. Before I made my masks, I did buy disposable ones. I didn't notice this issue with those. So, maybe there's something about breathing thru cotton as opposed to man-made fibers.
Oooh! Maybe I'll try cutting onions with my mask on. That could be a game changer!! 😊
Nicely, nicely done. Thanks Monona
-----Original Message-----
From: Laurence Doemeny <ldoemeny**At_Symbol_Here**COX.NET>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Sent: Thu, Sep 17, 2020 04:42 AM
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Issues with face coverings
A search of specific surface areas of some cotton fibers is in the low double digits m2 for a gram of cotton fiber. Activated charcoal is 3000 m2 per gram. Seems like a nonissue.
-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU] On Behalf Of Kim Jeskie
Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2020 4:56 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Issues with face coverings
Just a curiosity question. We have a research group raising concerns that face coverings could inhibit one's ability to smell, a sense they believe they really need to have in a laboratory setting. I've seen publications disputing concerns around carbon dioxide entrapment and heard plenty of practical comments about being able to smell cologne through the coverings, but I haven't seen anything published on this topic. It sounds like a weak argument to me, but I don't want to simply discount this concern without a good faith effort to find out if there's any real evidence that this is a valid concern. Any thoughts/comments that you would care to share?
Thanks,
Kim
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