During the cleaning process, every housewife always wonders where the dust in the house comes from. It seems like just yesterday it was clean, but today you need to vacuum or sweep again.
Oddly enough, but in most cases the main sources of dust are the owners of the house themselves.
Reasons for appearance
Oddly enough, in most cases the main sources of dust are the owners of the house themselves. Scientists estimate that about 60% of the total amount of this substance comes from hair and dead skin. Its increase is proportional if pets - cats or dogs - live with people.
By the way, one of the main “producers” of dust are pillows based on natural fabrics. You need to keep in mind: if such things do not lend themselves to systematic cleaning, this threatens the appearance of dust mites, and this is a direct path to allergic reactions. Therefore, it is so important to keep your home clean and monitor the level of dust generated.
Not the least important factor in the appearance of dust particles is the presence of fungus and mold in the home. The fact that these harmful colonies choose dark and damp corners as their place of residence hinders their prompt detection and elimination. Therefore, it is extremely important to maintain optimal levels of humidity and temperature and carry out regular preventive measures to eliminate fungus.
It is important to keep your home clean and monitor the level of dust generated
According to statistics, those homes most susceptible to dust are those located:
- in close proximity to objects under construction;
- close to roadways and highways;
- on the first or second floor.
Perhaps these electrons -
Worlds with five continents
Arts, knowledge, wars, thrones,
And the memory of forty centuries...
Today I shake out the bag from the vacuum cleaner and am horrified - how much DUST there is in there! And where does it come from... I have a question - there is the Internet, I’ve read it, I’ll tell you now.
Dust is small solid bodies of organic or mineral origin. Dust is particles with an average diameter of 0.005 mm and a maximum diameter of 0.1 mm. Larger particles convert the material into the category of sand, which ranges in size from 0.1 to 1 mm. When exposed to moisture, dust usually turns into dirt.
Dust is a mysterious thing. No matter how much you remove it, it still accumulates. Where? You go on vacation, having previously washed the entire apartment until it shines, tightly locking the windows and doors, and when you return, you find deposits of house dust on the floor! Miracles and nothing more!
Truly miracles, if you also know what it is. By the way, in our house in the dust you can find... sands of the Sahara desert, ash from the Japanese volcano Sakurajima, salt from the Pacific Ocean, microparticles of soil from near Voronezh and many other interesting things.
Tens of millions of tons of dust settle in Russia every year. Seventy percent of it is born by nature, and the remaining thirty by man. This is mainly waste from the combustion of mineral fuels - oil, gas, coal, wood. But we are not talking about them; with them everything is more or less clear. So, the most significant source of natural dust is soil. Particles of earth blown by the winds rise high into the sky and are transported for many hundreds of kilometers.
Ocean dust - small crystals of salts thrown into the air by the seas - comes in second place. Of course, it is not the crystals themselves that enter the atmosphere, but the smallest droplets of water that arise when air bubbles rising from the bottom of reservoirs are agitated and destroyed. (By the way, this is why the air near the seas seems salty and smells of algae). The drops dry instantly, and the air is saturated with salts. Just like soil particles, the crystals rise high above the ground and float in conjunction with water vapor in the form of clouds.
Volcanoes and large forest fires are other significant sources of dust. Moreover, as you understand, not only volcanoes erupt, but also smoke and are in an inactive period of life. There are hundreds of such “smoking pipes” all over the planet. Thus, the slowly smoking Sakurajima volcano (Japan, Kyushu island) annually “rewards” humanity with 14 million tons of dust. The nearby town of Kagoshima is considered the dustiest in the world: its streets, no matter how hard the hardworking Japanese street cleaners try, are always covered with a layer of dust and ash.
Finally, deserts do not leave us unattended. For example, the huge Sahara, from 60 to 200 million tons of dust of which settles every year in the mountains of Central America, is deposited in the cities of Russia, England, and distant Australia. Don't be surprised, but your house dust may contain any of the samples listed above! And also... cosmic dust that falls on the planet along with meteorite showers, pollen, fungi, spores, animal hair and human hair, rubber dust from worn-out tires, fibers from natural and artificial fabrics. All this circles in the air and penetrates into our apartments.
However, there is something else, and in very large quantities. These are... mites - microscopic living creatures that live in house dust. To date, about 150 species of mites have been found in house dust (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae are the most allergenic representatives). They are called dermatophagoid or pyroglyphid mites. According to one hypothesis, these mites initially lived in bird nests, and subsequently “crawled” into our houses and apartments.
They feed on dead scales of human skin. Mites live in pillows, bedding, upholstered furniture, accumulations of dust on the floor, especially in secluded places where a broom cannot reach and drafts do not enter. They fly into the apartment along with the same drafts; we often bring them in with our clothes. It is estimated that there are about two million mites in a typical double bed. They cause little harm, but in some people they themselves and their secretions can cause allergies.
Well, why does dust accumulate in an apartment where no one lives? Everything is very simple. Firstly, no amount of thorough cleaning can change the composition of the air in the room. We left, and the dust will continue to settle for a long time. Just in time for our return, the air will become more or less clean due to the settled dust, but the furniture, floors - everything will be covered with thousands and thousands of particles. Secondly, even tightly closed windows and doors do not pose a particular barrier to dust. There would be a crack, but the dust, rest assured, would find it!
Household dust, magnified 115 times.
Interesting Facts
* In a tightly locked apartment with closed windows, about 12 thousand dust particles settle per 1 square centimeter of the floor and horizontal surface of furniture in two weeks. This dust contains 35% mineral particles, 12% textile and paper fibers, 19% skin flakes, 7% pollen, 3% soot and smoke particles. The remaining 24% is of unknown origin.
*House dust mites live for about four months. During this time, the tick produces excrement 200 times its own weight. And lays up to 300 eggs. Now it is clear why the concentration of allergens indoors increases rapidly in a short time.
* It is estimated that one hectare of lawn binds 60 tons of dust.
*The dustiest place in the house is the back wall of the refrigerator. It heats up itself and heats the air, which rises, and the result is a river of air flowing from the floor to the ceiling and covering the back wall of the refrigerator with dust.
* The air inside the house is almost always dustier than outside, unless you live in a large industrial city. Therefore, the easiest way to reduce dust in an apartment is to create a draft.
What is dust? Perhaps not each of us knows what is included in its composition and how its elements affect our health.
You will learn about what dust consists of, why it is dangerous and how to deal with it in our article.
Where does dust come from in the apartment?
The apartment is the “best” dust collector in the world. Every year, up to 20 kg of dust settles in an ordinary small two-room Khrushchev house. Even a closed, uninhabited room becomes covered with a layer of dust in a short period of time. Where does this “pollutant” come from in our homes? It turns out that the largest percentage (about 70%) of dust reaches us from afar, and only 30 percent is produced due to human activity.
As scientists have found, the Sahara Desert is the most important source of dust for the entire Earth. From its territories, the wind annually raises an average of 150 million tons of dust.
The second no less important and large “dust source” is the Sakurajima volcano, located on Japanese lands. At this time, it is active, so periodically up to 14 million tons of volcanic ash are released into the atmosphere from its vent. And the city, located several kilometers from the volcano, is constantly covered with a layer of dust.
In addition to the largest worldly dust sources on land, there are also seas and oceans. Due to the high percentage of salt content, the world's oceans also deliver a percentage of dust into the air during evaporation, forming clouds. The Earth's atmosphere has not gone unnoticed by space. Thanks to space objects, the mass of the Earth increases by 9 tons due to settled comet and meteorite dust. All these examples of the inanimate world take place in our apartment. Surprisingly, even waste from penguins living in Antarctica can reach our homes. Thus, a wide variety of particles gather together, mix with air and turn into dust.
Dust will not stop at anything, even thousands of kilometers do not frighten it. In order to get into your home, she will go through the most difficult paths and reach her goal.
Dust appears in apartments because some vital processes are constantly taking place in them: small particles flake off from the upper layer of human skin (epidermis), pets leave their fur, food dries out, wakes up, crumbles and also leaves small grains. In addition, dust also comes from outside - its small particles can travel many kilometers before they get into your apartment.
House dust and human health
For humans, dust is not just a signal that the house needs to be cleaned again. Its small grains of organic and inorganic origin (fine dust) irritate the upper respiratory tract and human lungs. A big irritant is inorganic dust, which appears as a result of the decomposition of artificial materials that contain hazardous elements. When complex matter breaks down into simpler matter, harmful substances begin to act. By inhaling them, the mucous membrane is irritated and rejection occurs, as a result of which a person develops an allergy. Breathing dusty air every day can lead to complications of existing respiratory diseases.
The worst accumulation of dust is in hard-to-reach places, where it is not easy to reach with a mop, and doing frequent, thorough cleaning is even difficult. Under a bed or sofa, behind a closet or shelving unit, in closets and more, in particular, a large amount of “insidious” dust collects there. This dust causes severe allergic reactions in humans. But why? What is there in this dust? The fact is that dust mites have found their “place in the sun” there.
Of course, it will not be possible to get rid of dust completely and forever. Not because you lack the knowledge or cleaning equipment to do this, but because it is simply impossible to do. But in order to minimize the problem, we will tell you how to carry out cleaning most correctly and competently.
Let's start with the fact that a room without fresh air is more dusty than a ventilated one. This is all because the air outside is cleaner as the dust spreads over a large area of open space. An apartment is an enclosed space in which dust accumulates and settles. Therefore, in order for cleaning to take place “in one easy breath,” you need to open the windows wide (necessarily protected by a mosquito net, which, in turn, will prevent the penetration of street dust), breathe in and let fresh air into the apartment, which will push the stagnant dust ball out of the house.
After airing the room, you should evaluate the unkempt environment and determine for yourself an algorithm for performing actions to remove contaminants from the surfaces of the room. We will share with you some tips on methods of putting things in order. The first and most correct maneuver would be to remove all the wrong things. It is advisable to get rid of scattered toys, utensils that are out of place, hanging clothes, etc. Hide all this in closets, put it in display cases, or simply throw it away. But we must not forget that even antique watches standing in a glass rack require care and wet cleaning, because even glass allows dust to pass through.
The next step is processing upholstered furniture. Sofas, beds, armchairs - all furniture with a fabric surface must be vacuumed or, using a thick damp cloth folded in several layers, knocked out. The same applies to carpets, decorative textiles and pillows, but cleaning these products requires more careful care so as not to damage the valuable, high-quality coating.
In addition to the fact that curtains periodically need to be washed and replaced with clean ones, they also need to be treated with steam. We are talking not only about massive products, but also about thin, lightweight fabrics. To steam the tulle, you can use a special steamer or a good iron. This procedure will not only get rid of dust, but will also disinfect the window curtain.
As mentioned above, a ventilated apartment is a fresh apartment, with less dust. To keep the rooms in this state for a long time, you should think about growing indoor plants, especially those with large green leaves. But caring for such “residents” of the house also involves wet cleaning: spraying, wiping the leaves with a damp light cloth and watering. Your apartment will remain fresh much longer, because as you know, plants produce oxygen through the process of photosynthesis.
To process all remaining items, cabinet, TV, shelf, mirror, cornice, etc., the main method is wet cleaning. A couple of rags, a mop or a washing vacuum cleaner with an aqua filter will do the trick.
Having completed all stages of cleaning, you will be proud of yourself and enjoy the cleanliness of your home.
Quite a lot of dust accumulates, and standard dry cleaning will not help get rid of it, but will only spread the dust to different corners of the room. Therefore, the best way to combat dust is wet cleaning. Water is great at removing dust thanks to the laws of physics because water droplets and dust particles have opposite charges and are therefore attracted to each other.
This principle was the basis, which today is practically the most effective multifunctional device in the world for cleaning rooms and combating dust.
The powerful air separator, aqua filter and HEPA fine dust neutralizer that the Rainbow vacuum cleaner is equipped with allow it to clean rooms with a proven efficiency of 99.997%. The Rainbow vacuum cleaner is available for dry and wet cleaning, cleaning hard-to-reach places, optimal air humidification, as well as a unique ability to clean upholstered furniture and bedding to a depth of 30 cm. With the help of the Rainbow you will get rid of even the dust that is “stuck” in the depths of the old sofa .
Unfortunately, it is impossible to get rid of dust once and for all. However, the Rainbow vacuum cleaner allows you to carry out regular wet cleaning with the highest efficiency, convenience and safety, even for the most sensitive people.
Many housewives, and indeed all people, have repeatedly asked such a banal question: “Where does dust come from?” Even with regular cleaning of the room and the use of various types of humidifiers and gels with the “Anti-dust” effect, it still settles everywhere. On tables, TVs, cabinets. Let's talk in detail about where it comes from.
What is dust?
From a scientific point of view, dust is small particles whose size cannot exceed 0.1 mm. Everything that crosses this boundary already belongs to sand. It is noteworthy that when exposed to moisture, dust turns into dirt. This gray substance contains not only mineral particles, but also organic substances. You will probably be surprised that in your home you are dealing with the sands of the Sahara, volcanoes from different parts of the world, your own skin flakes, etc. We can say with great confidence that there are no health benefits from dust, and you yourself you understand that. The main question is where does it come from?
House dust
Research by scientists
If you close all the windows and doors in an apartment, then in about 14 days a dense layer of dust 1 cm thick will form in it. This is equivalent to 11-12 thousand dust particles per 1 square centimeter. Approximately 35% are particles of mineral origin. For example, it could be rocks, minerals, etc. In addition, about 12% of various particles of paper and fibers of similar composition are present. Scientists also found about 19% of human skin scales. In addition, about 7% flower pollen was found. As for the rest, it is dust of unknown origin, presumably cosmic, but we will talk about this a little later. Agree, all this suggests that it is almost impossible to get rid of dust, and this is partly true. This is due to the fact that it is unlikely that you will ever be able to isolate all the sources from which dust enters our house. It should be partly clear to you where the dust in the air comes from. However, we have not yet considered all of its sources.
Where does dust come from in the apartment?
As noted above, this question interests many. Agree, it’s much more pleasant to realize that there is no dust in your house, or the amount of dust is minimal and completely safe for residents. However, scientists have found that most of the mineral and organic particles do not reach us with dirty shoes and clothes, as many believe. According to research, more than half of the dust enters the room with the air, so we can safely say that we breathe dust. Now, in principle, it is not surprising why people in the mountains live an order of magnitude longer than city dwellers - the air there contains much less dust. But at the same time, we can safely say that approximately 70% of all dust is of natural origin, and only 30% is a product of human activity.
Cosmic dust
This type of dust is formed in space. Particle sizes can range from a few molecules to 0.2 micrometers. Every year, about 40 thousand tons of cosmic dust settle on planet Earth. This type of dust is subject to a clear classification; it is divided into:
- intergalactic;
- galactic;
- stellar;
- circumplanetary dust.
The interesting thing is that even if the particles grow together into one large whole, they still belong to cosmic dust. Together with meteorite showers and other precipitation, it settles on our houses, gets into apartments, cars, etc. But we can say with confidence that it is completely safe and does not pose any danger to human life, pets, etc. As you can see, there are many places where dust comes from in an apartment. But we haven’t covered everything yet, as there are several more sources.
Deserts, volcanoes, factories...
As noted above, if you do research, you will probably find dust in your home, the origin of which has not been established. But you can also find dust of desert origin. How did she end up in your apartment? Everything is simple here - she arrived. It may have been traveling for decades before it flew through your window. This is possible, especially if you take into account the insignificant weight of dust. Another source is volcanoes. Dust of volcanic origin is extremely common. If there is little of it in the territory of the central part of Ukraine and Russia, then in places that are in close proximity to volcanoes there is a large amount of it. If we talk about the harmful effects of such particles, then they are practically harmless, but you need to understand that there is little good either. Metallurgical, chemical, engineering and other factories release huge amounts of dust into the air every day. In principle, it is almost impossible to fight this. Of course, they install cleaning filters, but they are ineffective against small particles.
How to deal with dust
So we sorted this issue out a little. Now you know where dust in the house comes from. But this knowledge in itself gives us little. It is much more interesting to know effective ways to combat dust. As noted above, it is unlikely to be completely removed from the premises. However, the number of dust mites in the air can be reduced dramatically. One of the most effective ways, no matter how trivial it may sound, is to regularly wet clean the room. It makes sense to install humidifiers with periodic action. They are good because they will precipitate small particles and join them together. As a result, it will be much easier for you to clean them up. Another very effective method is washing vacuum cleaners. Despite their high cost, they will reduce the amount of dust in the house by about 30-40%.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a huge number of places where dust comes from. If the main source of its spread is air, then it is extremely difficult to combat this phenomenon. You must understand that if there is only a little dust, this is not critical, but its excessive content in the air will lead to the fact that you may develop acute allergies or even asthma. In this situation, it is difficult to advise anything specific. Particularly surprising is the question from users: “Where does the dust from batteries come from?” The fact is that air convection leads to the constant movement of small particles, as a result of which they settle on the radiators, and if they are not wiped periodically, over time an impressive layer will form there. Do not forget about regular wet cleaning and ventilation of the room. Although the latter option will only contribute to the exchange of dust, there is no way without it. Well, that's all that can be said on this topic. As you can see, dust is everywhere, another question is how to deal with it.
Where does dust come from?
Dust. The eternal problem of housewives, and not only housewives. Sometimes it seems that the dust is completely impossible to eliminate. But today we will talk not so much about its elimination, but about its origin. So:
Where does dust come from?
Every year, tens of millions of tons of dust settle on our country. 70% of all dust is formed by nature, the remaining 30% by man. If we talk about the human share, these are mainly burnt particles of oil, gases, coal and wood. That is, mineral fuel waste. The most significant source of dust on Earth is its soil. The wind blows huge amounts of soil particles, which rise high into the sky and are transported for many thousands of kilometers.
The second place in the championship of dust production is occupied by salts of the seas and oceans. Tiny droplets of water enter the atmosphere, which are formed from bubbles rising from the ocean floor. The drops instantly disappear, and the salt crystals remain in the air.
Another significant source of dust is volcanoes and large forest fires. Speaking about volcanoes, it should be noted that we mean not only active volcanoes, but also smoking ones, that is, those in an inactive state. As you know, a huge number of volcanoes emit hundreds of thousands of tons of dust into the atmosphere every year. All this “charm” flies with the wind to our cozy town and settles on our closet. This is where the dust in our apartment comes from. So don't be surprised that your dust may contain particles from a volcano located somewhere in Africa. For example, the Sukarajima volcano (Japan) releases up to 14 million tons of dust into the atmosphere every year.
And of course, deserts are another rich source of dust on our planet. Every year, the Sahara Desert supplies the mountains of Central America with 60 to 200 million tons of dust. The same dust settles in Russia, England and Australia.
What else is in the dust? It’s probably impossible to list everything. The dust contains the remains of cosmic bodies after meteor showers, pollen, fungi, spores, animal hair and human hair, rubber dust from burnt tires, fabric fibers and much more. This is all constantly in motion and penetrates into our apartments.
And another irreplaceable attribute of dust is dust mites, which live in every apartment. Dust mites are microscopic living organisms that feed and live in dust. Their diversity includes up to 50 species. They feed on human skin. It's no secret that microscopic particles of skin fall off the skin every day. They feed on these particles. These ticks live everywhere. In pillows, blankets, sheets, various fabrics. Various accumulations of dust in corners are also a favorite habitat for dust mites. Up to a million individuals fit on the bottom square meter. Also, all our upholstered furniture is abundantly covered with these mites. They enter our house with drafts. We often bring them on our clothes. Pets carry them in their fur. Dust mites are not particularly harmful, but they cause allergies in some people.
Do not be nervous or upset about the fact that dust is constantly accumulating. There is no way to stop this process. Even in an apartment that is tightly closed, a large amount of dust deposits still forms. The fact is that dust penetrates even through the smallest cracks in the apartment. You may only need a full seal to completely remove the dust. An interesting fact is that if you leave the apartment for several days and do not let anyone in, the air in the apartment or in any other room will become cleaner. The whole secret is that the dust will simply settle if there are no drafts or movements of air molecules.
Don't forget to remove dust though. In any case, cleaning helps prevent various allergic reactions associated with dust.