Word: skins
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...February meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Andrew Clark of Cambridge University recruited 23 peanut-allergic children and fed them precise doses of crushed peanuts every day. At first they showed the typical allergic reactions: lots of itching, coughing and reddening of the skin. But after just three months, most of the kids were able to eat five peanuts a day with no reaction; at the end of year, the majority of them could safely eat 32 peanuts, which meant they no longer needed to read food labels for possible nut contamination. Clark has just embarked...
...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...
...mess that originates within the home is a lot easier to measure and control. The more people who live there, the more skin that's going to be shed, the more pets, the more animal fur. And, as Mom always warned, the more you walk around the house while eating, the more food debris you'll drop on the floor - which also attracts more insects that will die, decompose and add their own special zest to your dust. Cooking smoke and tobacco smoke, which are the most obvious contributors when they're being produced, actually make only a small contribution...
...goes without saying that your home will never be dust-free, but there are ways to reduce your own dust loading - and it's important that you try. Dust mites, which feed on shed skin, produce allergens that are known triggers for people suffering from asthma. Same goes for cockroach dust, especially in cities. No one needs much convincing about the wisdom of getting rid of arsenic, and the good news is that about 80% of it can be removed simply by cleaning floor dust regularly...
...June 2000, though, Greece was lucky enough to join that club. By the skin of its teeth, it met the criteria for admission to Europe's new currency union. First, the drachma's value was fixed to that of hard-money countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, and its long decline against the dollar slowed. Then in 2002, the drachma exited the currency stage, giving way to the euro...