Does your house feel like a dust magnet, too? It’s like the darn thing will only go away if you wipe everything every day – which is out of the question, seriously. You probably don’t look deep into your house dust. When it hits your focus, do you freeze with the realization and look away? When skillful and experienced maids in Los Angeles see your house dust, they just see a task. But what do scientists see when they have a close look at your house dust? Does it say anything about you?
It’s like a DNA of your house
There has been a recent study investigating the composition of dust collected from over 1,200 U.S. households. Scientists at the University of Columbia asked participants to send in samples of dust collected with cotton pads from the door trims on the inside and the outside. The reason they asked for dust from this particular spot is because it’s most often neglected during cleaning. The participants also filled out a survey with answers to questions like where the house is located and how old it is, how many rooms there are, how often the windows are left open, whether the floors have carpets on them, etc.
The conclusion, among others, is that on average there are 9,000 species of microbes in house dust, including around 7,000 species of bacteria and around 2,000 types of fungi. It’s not as bad as it sounds, though, because the researchers confirmed that the overwhelming majority of those microbes are harmless, while some of them could even have a positive influence on us.
The type of fungi that can be found in a home, they say, is determined by the home’s location, whereas the type of bacteria is determined by who and what you live with. Interestingly enough, there seem to be types of bacteria related to women and men, which could be observed through the bacteria composition in homes with women or men only.
One of the most notable influences on the bacteria in your home is your pet. A portion of the fine film covering your favorite photo frame is pet dander.
And here is what else can be found in our common house dust: pollen, insect parts, dead human cells like human skin flakes, carpet fibers, sand, flour, soil particles and wall particles.
What should we do about it?
The scientists emphasize that it’s “just a fact of life” that these microbes are all around us and even on us. We shouldn’t be afraid of them – we can even benefit from some of them, although the researchers failed to specify which from and in what way. That said, the fact remains that a dusted home feels way fresher and welcoming than a dusty one. If you feel overwhelmed struggling to ward off dust invasion in your home, consider some flash cleaning routines. Or simply, leave it to seasoned maids in Los Angeles.
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