HHS HealthBeat (March 8, 2010)

Tracking the source of dust

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

At the University of Arizona, David Layton and Paloma Beamer have been looking into the sources of house dust. Some dust comes from us – we constantly shed dead skin cells, for instance.

But some is from outside the house. And Layton and Beamer used a computer model to follow dust from outside to inside. They chose arsenic, and found 60 percent came into a home as airborne particles, as opposed to, say on shoes.

How to deal with dust? Here’s Beamer’s recommendation:

[Paloma Beamer speaks] "The most important thing is to have a HEPA filter on your vacuum cleaner, and to vacuum regularly – not just your floors, but your upholstered furniture, and your bedding, and all those areas."

The study in Environmental Science and Technology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss. 

Last revised: May 7, 2011