When I was young, still living in a house with my parents and not a dormitory, I was forced to do chores. I believe that the majority of the kids around my age were also told to take out the trash, clean your room, wash the dishes and even dust the living room. I was told to do the latter a lot, but mostly because my mom was sensitive to dust. She would start to uncontrollably sneeze, and she would immediately have to stop dusting. I always wondered why this was. Why was my mother so sensitive to dust, while I was almost immune to its sneeze causing powers?
Apparently, dust is not just one thing. It is the combination of a million things. The range of dust could go from dead skin cells, dead hair, or even space rocks. Does that mean my mother could be potentially allergic to space rocks? Some scientists have researched the idea of these space rocks being harmful. However, the only thing that they’ve found is that most space rocks contain an amazing amount of organic material.
Therefore, it’s extremely unlikely that my mom is allergic to the teeny tiny space rocks that could possibly be found in house dust. Although it would be cool to think that you are allergic to materials that fall millions of miles to our Earth and wind up on our living room floor. Sadly, my mom is most likely sensitive to the hair particles or dead skin cells that she would inhale while dusting off the table in the living room.
Next time you decide it’s a chore to dust your house, think about all of the potential dead skin and space dust that you could encounter!
http://www.space.com/24720-space-dust-life-building-blocks.html
http://www.highlightskids.com/science-questions/what-dust-made
What troubles me about this topic is the amount of dust that accumulates in my dorm room. In my home in CA I never have to deal with dust issues but now in my college dorm I have to dust my room at least once every other day in order to not die of an allergic reaction. I wish your article explained more why the amount that accumulates varies from place to place. Is it how old the buildings are or the geography of the location?
This post is extremely informative. I’m allergic to dust and never knew any of this. Its a bit of an eye-opener and its interesting to see dust forming on a fan or even counter top. It seems to be forming from thin air, but it’s really just millions of particles stuck together. I enjoyed reading this post.
This is a good topic. I’ve always wondered what dust actually is. Did you have a pet growing up? Your mom could have easily been allergic to dog or cat hair, or your hair who knows. Now I’m wondering how dust gets collected together and if the surface matters. Would a carpet collect more dust than a hardwood floor? Also, the space rocks are a great addition to dust. I’m a fan.
I like this article because I am also allergic to particles found in the dust that collects in our homes. My allergist explained to me that it wasn’t the dust ball itself that causes the reaction, it’s whatever is meshed up together inside of it. I never knew that until my doctor told me so I think this article can be very informative to others.