I suspect that they are not allowing respirators because if they did so, there would exist a "control group" of people who were protected, to some degree, from the airborne toxins. If such a group existed, then it would be possible to do cohort studies which would easily and unequivocally prove the obvious, that when guys are getting sick all around you, you should don a mask or you might get sick too.

If they can prevent such a control group from existing in the first place, then they can seriously undermine the efforts of physicians to produce evidence-based research in the future. If they have no control group, then they have nothing that is airtight, so to speak, to present in their research conclusions.

It is essential we get a large cohort protected by masks. We need names and contact info for them. They need to get equivalent exposure time (with their masks on) and this has to be witnessed and documented. With only a few hundred people doing this (but preferably thousands, of course) then we have a solid basis for future cohort studies that would be almost absolutely conclusive (i.e. admissible in court). Where the hell is the Environmental Protraction Agency? Why do these guys even exist, if they can't mandate some freakin' masks in an increasingly toxic area? These masks are CHEAP. Really, really cheap. So you see it's not the cost. It's about controlling the control group.