Word: dust
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Layton and Beamer, whose latest study has been accepted for fall publication in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, knew a lot about their subject even before they set to work. Historically, everyone from chemists to homemakers has tried to figure out just what dust is made of, and the Arizona researchers drew their preliminary data mostly from two studies of household dust conducted in the Netherlands and the U.S. The American survey in particular was a big one, covering six Midwestern states. Layton and Beamer also included a localized study in Sacramento, Calif., that focused particularly on lead contamination. What...
...specific dust mix in any household differs according to climate, age of the house and the number of people who live in it - not to mention the occupants' cooking, cleaning and smoking habits. But nearly everywhere, dust consists of some combination of shed bits of human skin, animal fur, decomposing insects, food debris, lint and organic fibers from clothes, bedding and other fabrics, tracked-in soil, soot, particulate matter from smoking and cooking, and, disturbingly, lead, arsenic and even...
...There are more [components]," Beamer says. "Dust is a hodgepodge of all sorts of things. It would probably be impossible to make a list of all the possible items...
...dust's ingredient label is not the whole story, since all of those flecks and bits behave differently and present different levels of health risk. To investigate those factors more closely, Layton and Beamer developed a computer algorithm that looked at the size, source and toxicity of dust particles as well as how easily they enter the house, if they ever exit and, if so, by what route. That information, by extension, can provide at least a rough sense of the dust load in your own home. (See TIME's special report "How to Live 100 Years...
...general rule, the majority of household dust - about 60% - comes from outside, through windows, doors, vents and, significantly, on the soles of your shoes. Smaller dust particles - from 28 to 49 microns, or thousandths of a millimeter - tend to stay on your shoes. The rest is shaken off inside. A higher share of the dust that floats in the air gets deposited, but again, there's a lot that determines how much any one home will...