Answering that age-old lament: Where does all this dust come from?

October 28, 2009
Answering that age-old lament: Where does all this dust come from?

Enlarge

Most indoor household dust that collects on furniture and floors actually comes from outdoors, a new study finds. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Where does it come from? Scientists in Arizona are reporting a surprising answer to that question, which has puzzled and perplexed generations of men and women confronted with layers of dust on furniture and floors. Most of indoor dust comes from outdoors. Their report is scheduled for the Nov. 1 issue of ACS' Environmental Science & Technology.

In the study, David Layton and Paloma Beamer point out that household dust consists of a potpourri that includes dead skin shed by people, fibers from carpets and upholstered furniture, and tracked-in and airborne particles blown in from outdoors. It can include lead, arsenic and other potentially harmful substances that migrate indoors from outside air and soil. That can be a special concern for children, who consume those substances by putting dust-contaminated toys and other objects into their mouths.

The scientists describe development and use on homes in the Midwest of a computer model that can track distribution of contaminated soil and airborne particulates into residences from outdoors. They found that over 60 percent of house dust originates outdoors. They estimated that nearly 60 percent of the arsenic in floor dust could come from arsenic in the surrounding air, with the remainder derived from tracked-in soil. The researchers point out the model could be used to evaluate methods for reducing contaminants in dust and associated human exposures.

More information: "Migration of Contaminated Soil and Airborne Particulates to Indoor ", & Technology http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/es9003735

Source: American Chemical Society (news : web)

4.4 /5 (7 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

jyro
Nov 01, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
most lint inside a house comes from the drier.
Rank 4.4 /5 (7 votes)
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Discrepancy between oxygen and carbon-dioxide levels
    created13 hours ago
  • where gems are found in the world
    created16 hours ago
  • Wind Waves in Reservoir ~ Wind run-up and Wind set-up
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Balance of oxygen in the atmosphere
    createdFeb 01, 2012
  • The case for a methanol-based economy
    createdJan 30, 2012
  • Weather in a rotating cylinder
    createdJan 25, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Earth

More news stories

Sandy streets over the Atlantic

Thick dust from the Sahara blowing over the ocean off the western coast of Africa encounters the islands of Cape Verde, forming a wake of swirling “vortex streets” visible by satellite.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created 48 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Domestic consumption main contributor to Africa's growing e-waste

West Africa faces a rising tide of e-waste generated by domestic consumption of new and used electrical and electronic equipment, according to a new United Nations report. Domestic consumption makes up the majority (up to ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created 20 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Could Venus be shifting gear?

(PhysOrg.com) -- ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft has discovered that our cloud-covered neighbour spins a little slower than previously measured. Peering through the dense atmosphere in the infrared, the ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 1 hour ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago

(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created 5 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

Clam fields found at deep, low-temperature Mariana vents

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have marveled at the unusual life forms thriving at high temperature hydrothermal vents of the deep ocean.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created 1 hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast


The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males

A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...

Experts reveal how plants don't get sunburn

(PhysOrg.com) -- Experts at the University of Glasgow have discovered how plants survive the harmful rays of the sun.

Team isolates nerve cells involved in storing long term memory and gene proteins associated with them

(Medical Xpress) -- A research team in Taiwan has succeeded in isolating two nerve cells in fruit fly brains that are believed to be the major players in allowing for the formation of long term memories. Furthermore, ...

Fool's gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials

Catalytic materials, which lower the energy barriers for chemical reactions, are used in everything from the commercial production of chemicals to catalytic converters in car engines. However, with current catalytic materials ...

SLAC, Stanford team focuses on high-energy electrons to treat cancer

Accelerator physicists at SLAC and cancer specialists from Stanford are working on a new technology that could dramatically reduce the time needed for cancer radiation treatments. The team ran an initial experiment ...

News of plaque-clearing drug tops week of major advances against Alzheimer's disease

In the last eight days, scientists have delivered a powerful one-two punch in the fight to defeat Alzheimer's disease. At the same time, the White House and members of Congress are proposing increases in Alzheimer's research ...