catharine pictured: foil mylar balloons, which are happy balloons, the kind that are safe. these are good balloons.
My heart has been heavy lately. A lot of stuff.
Also this morning the school called me and said that there is a huge latex balloon garland that some parents brought at school for graduation, despite the fact that he’d made it against school policy to have latex balloons.
I’m really thankful he told me, so I can try to protect myself. I wish that latex balloons had particles that stayed in place but they spread latex dust through the air up to 200 feet in all directions, due to being inflated. It’s very stressful to me.
I had to arrange for someone else to pick the kids up today- they are going to have to take off work to do it- and tomorrow- so I don’t come close to where the balloons are. My respirator can’t protect me- no respirator can; the particles are too small. I’ve reacted through my respirator before.
We really should make latex balloons illegal in public places like parks, public schools, and necessary places like hospitals. It’s very easy to switch to acrylic, PVC, or foil balloons that are safer for people.
I wish I didn’t have to worry about latex balloons for graduation parties in peoples’ backyards, too, when I go on walks. They could be all kinds of places where I don’t even know they’re there, until it’s too late.
It’s a bad time of year for the 1% of the population who is allergic, like me, and up to 17% of healthcare workers. We can make this a better time of year with some combined efforts to change out latex for non-latex options.
