The de facto standard for most mask users throughout Asia, the surgical mask provides effectively little benefit to the wearer with regard to filtering fine particle pollution. Asia comes out far ahead of the rest of the world in embracing the use of masks in public, however it's time to parlay that into a true benefit through education about pollution and the use of the proper style of mask to cope with urban pollution, in particular PM2.5. The alternative, after all, is massive healthcare costs and often shortened, less pleasant lives. So let's examine the solutions which are available here and now.