Mount Etna And Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis could be the longest word in the English language. There is a lot of argument about it. 

It is a word for a disease that comes from breathing dust from erupting volcanoes. Fortunately for Italians and other Europeans living in the downwind area from Mt. Aetna, there is a shorter version of this word, pneumoconiosis. 


Now many people will have a new reason to hate English speaking people. They will not only have this disease but reason to know the word for it. You can avoid this horrible fate by doing disaster preparedness for a volcanic eruption emergency. 


In order to do this, you need the usual preparedness items as well as extra filters for machinery like vehicles. You also need filters for humans so you don't get the dreaded pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis and need to pronounce or at least recognize it. 


I get this particular emergency a lot because I live within spitting distance of five active volcanoes. I believe the latest ones were within less than a two year time span. Therefore, I keep lots of tape around, both duct tape and clear packaging tape. This is handy for taping around doors and windows to keep the dust out of my home. The other thing I like to have a lot of is plastic paint tarps. They make great door chambers to separate dirty areas from clean and keep the home clean.


It is suggested that you remove all clothing and wash off before entry into your clean area. You can use the paint tarps to separate these areas and make a kind of intermediate cleaning chamber. I believe the laundry room to my building is good for this.


You need a clean area to breathe in to avoid getting pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. Yes, you are right, I did save the above word to my clipboard so I just have to hit "paste", and there it is again, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. 


Volcanic ash is quite heavy compared to snow. It collapses roofs easily, so you may have occasion to don filter masks and cover up with long sleeves and pants that you can remove easily and wash. Then you get to remove all that ash from your roof before it caves in. It is good to remove from any area where it will be stirred up by either foot or vehicle traffic. As long as it is wet it will stay down, but as soon as it dries out, it is a dust and breathing problem again.


It is good for plants in reasonable amounts so they don't smother. It makes them grow nicely.


Cowboys in the old West of the USA used to use silk bandannas over their noses and mouths on cattle drives, because it filtered out fine dust particles, stirred up by hundreds of cattle hooves.


Bearing the above in mind, if you happen to be caught without enough filter masks to go around, you can sacrifice your silk garments to the cause of avoiding pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis.


You can rip or cut your precious silk garments into sizes appropriate for protection of noses and mouths. It needs to be finely woven silk that you can still breathe through.


It can take longer than 20 years for pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis to show up in persons who breathed volcanic dust, but it can kill you and make you die in great misery. I suggest you avoid it.


Anyway. I thought I should repeat this information in a slightly different form than my previous post on the subject of volcano preparedness, in honor of Mt. Aetna acting up around a lot of people who could get pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis.