Weekly Topic: Professions
How are hazardous and/or dangerous materials handled in your world? Where is dangerous waste stored? Who cleans up hazardous locations, and what tools have they developed specifically for your world?
The world of Apandi was almost destroyed when Kaneznuba erupted. The volcano blanketed 75% of the farmland in the continent with several feet of volcanic ash causing widespread famine and a sharp decline in population. After dozens of years of hard work as well as a little help from mother nature, the farmland was eventually reclaimed.
While removing ash may not seem like a harmful profession at first glance, but one must understand that the particles trapped in the ash are not the same as from wood smoke. The minerals in volcanic ash cannot be easily processed by human or elf physiology. Long-term exposure leads to a cough that won't go away, followed by shortness of breath and eventually death. The symptoms were not readily apparent for many years when reclamation efforts were first undertaken, but over time physicians had worked out that the untreatable disease was best cured with prevention alone. A simple cloth mask tightly woven from a mixture of animal and plant fibers was enough to block the fine particles from entering the airways of the removal team.
These masks would soon make their way into the hands of other professions, and now it is common to see many people wearing cloth masks while working dusty professions, such as in coal mines, or while grinding wheat.
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Volcanic ash is nasty stuff. From glass to toxic minerals, your lungs will never be the same if inhaled.
Interesting snippet.
I will admit silicosis was the inspiration for the dangerous profession. That sounds like a horrible condition to be afflicted with, and I see a LOT of stone carvers up here in Nunavut grinding away on limestone with no respirators. Most of them don't even use masks!