Everyone knows that house dust is the eternal enemy of humanity, and spring-cleaning- a lifelong obligation, because as soon as you put things in order, it appears again. It seems that if the apartment is empty, then there is no dust, but people appear - and it is right there.
Volcanoes
There is an opinion that 70% of dust is particles of the human epidermis. However, this is not true. Greater role in education house dust volcanoes play. The Japanese volcano Sakurajima alone releases 14 million tons of dust every year, which is carried by winds throughout the world. The release of dust and ash from the relatively recent eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull blocked European airspace for four days.
Earth's surface
The second important source of dust is the earth's surface. It's hard to believe, but in an ordinary apartment you can find particles brought by the wind from distant deserts. To do this, just walk with a mop behind the sofa.
Cosmic dust
In science, the concept of “dust” does not exist. They call it an aerosol, and this is unusual for our ears. The Earth's gaseous atmosphere always contains tiny solid particles, and their aggregate, regardless of origin, called aerosol, falls from space to earth every second. Scientists have calculated that the weight of our planet increases by several thousand tons every year, as cosmic dust, passing through all air layers, settles on the Earth, increasing its mass.
Do you have to clean all horizontal surfaces in the house from dust every day? Is it starting to feel like the dust will never go away? Of course, there is no magic remedy that will remove dust once and for all, but reducing its amount is quite possible. We will tell you where dust comes from, why it accumulates quickly and how to deal with it correctly.
It is impossible to completely get rid of dust: even in an empty house without residents and with closed windows, a thick layer of dust accumulates over time. Why is this happening? To answer this question, you need to know what the dust in the apartment consists of.
What is dust
Dust- These are small solid particles ranging in size from 0.01 to 10 microns. First of all, it is necessary to separate coarse and (or fine) dust. Coarse dust is exactly what irritates us so much. A layer of gray “fluff” that accumulates in corners, on bookshelves and under the sofa.
In fact, the greatest danger to us is fine dust that we don’t even see. It is found in large quantities in polluted city air and penetrates our body, damaging the walls of blood vessels and harming our health.
A significant part of the dust, as a rule, consists of tiny particles of dead skin and fabric fibers. Other dust contributors range from human and pet hair to soil particles, pollen, mold spores, dust mites and other minor sources. Also in some homes, dust contains waste products of cockroaches, termites, ants or other insects. There is especially a lot of dust after renovation.
In addition to domestic sources of dust, there are also natural ones - for example, scientists recognize the Sahara Desert as the largest source of dust. Volcanic ash, fires, meteorites and comets, seas and oceans are also to blame for the formation of dust. Such dust is not afraid of hundreds of thousands of kilometers: it will overcome all obstacles to get into your apartment.
You can't remove large sources of dust from your life, such as clothing, furniture, carpets and, in fact, human skin. However, you can use quality home cleaning methods. Then the amount of dust will be significantly reduced.
Always wipe dust from top to bottom– otherwise dirt from surfaces that are higher than others will settle on the already cleaned furniture.
Carpets should be vacuumed and shaken every week. Carpets – world class dust collectors, and when you step on them, they “throw” dust back into the air.
It is worth taking care of the furniture. For example, couch cushions, like carpeting, create, collect, and release dust into the air when you sit on them. Sofas, beds, and chairs can be vacuumed or knocked out using a thick, damp cloth. Also pay attention to the curtains: They need to be washed and steamed regularly.
Dust mites live in almost every home because they like warm, moist environments. They breed in bedding and in other places where there may be many particles of the epidermis, and introduce their waste products into general level dust. In most cases, this is not a problem: just wash your bedding and care for your upholstered furniture regularly.
Take inventory of your apartment. Perhaps some things should be thrown out altogether, and others should simply be replaced. Instead of feather pillows, take padding polyester ones, get rid of unnecessary decorative items and unnecessary clothes, old upholstered furniture. Don’t forget about soft toys: they are an excellent home for dust mites. There is absolutely no need to throw them in the trash; just wash them at high temperature or put it in the freezer for several hours.
Why is there a lot of dust in the apartment? The answer is simple: dust loves clutter. Clutter demoralizes even the most desperate housewives, forcing them to spend a lot of time and effort on cleaning. Store various trinkets and things you rarely use in a glass cabinet or drawer. Spend 5 minutes a day to put everything in its place - the dust will simply have nowhere to come from.
On total dust also affects our wardrobe. Just imagine how much dust we bring from the street along with our clothes! Pay close attention to laundry and closet organization. It is better to pack seasonal items in vacuum bags.
The worst accumulation of dust is located where it is quite difficult to clean, – under the bed, sofa, behind the refrigerator or closet, in the corners of the pantry, etc. When wet cleaning, it is recommended to give these areas greatest attention. Fortunately, mops and vacuum cleaners are now being produced with a variety of attachments that can get into hard-to-reach places.
The most difficult to reach places are at the top of the cabinets - to wipe them from dust, you always need to stand on a chair or stool. How to remove dust in this case? If you are not very concerned about the aesthetic appearance of the room, you can put old newspapers or large format paper on the “roof” of the cabinet - when the dust settles on it, it can be rolled up and thrown away. There is no need to deal with a thick layer of dust on the surface of the cabinet itself.
Another tip: if you need to remove dust from textured surfaces, such as picture frames, lampshades and other decorative elements, use a regular brush.
Damp cloth– that's all you need to collect dust from hard, smooth surfaces. Dust sticks to the fabric rather than flying and spreading through the air. The main thing is not to use an overly wet cloth: a large amount of water combined with dust creates dirt and can ruin the finish of your beautiful furniture. Cotton or microfiber rags absorb water better and remove dirt.
When cleaning, it is better not to use a broom or broom - they only raise dust into the air and spread it throughout the apartment.
It is widely believed that cleaning the air and partially eliminating dust helps houseplants. We already know that the role of green helpers is somewhat exaggerated. Of course, plants have a positive effect on the microclimate, but wet cleaning in combination with climate control equipment will wipe the nose of any ficus :)
How to wipe furniture to prevent dust from settling?
A little physics: As is known, microparticles have a small electric charge and are attracted to a surface charged with the opposite charge. To prevent this from happening, antistatic agents are used: they reduce the ability of objects to accumulate static electricity, and dust simply does not settle on furniture and household appliances.
The modern market is flooded with the most different means for cleaning from the very to varying degrees efficiency. To choose the right product, you need to know what it is intended for. Before use, you must read the instructions - otherwise, instead of cleanliness in the house, you risk observing an unsightly dense coating on horizontal surfaces.
- To prevent dust from sitting on furniture for a long time, use polish(or anti-dust). It contains antistatic agents for furniture against dust. The polish also adds shine to furniture elements. Thus, dust does not settle on the armrests or table, but simply “slides” off them. Nevertheless, anti-dust furniture is not a panacea: you will still have to do wet cleaning, but at least not so often.
- There are special ones for TVs and computer monitors. antistatic agents that remove dust and dirt. It is best to choose an antistatic agent that can be used while the equipment is turned on and that does not require subsequent treatment with a napkin or rag.
- Some sprays eliminate static electricity and kill dust mites. They should be used no more often than once every six months. They are mainly used to treat walls, carpets and textiles.
- Everything is clear with hard surfaces, but how to wipe upholstered furniture? Special impregnation spreads over the entire surface of the piece of furniture, as if forming a protective film that prevents dust from penetrating inside. However, the furniture will have to be cleaned so that the impregnation does not turn into a thick coating.
- If you prefer folk remedies, will help you vinegar. Add 50–75 ml of vinegar, two teaspoons to a glass of cool water olive oil and a couple of drops of any essential oil. Then pour the resulting solution into a spray bottle and treat the furniture with it. This method also destroys unpleasant odors.
The main thing when choosing household chemicals is to carefully select the composition of the product. Avoid names of toxic substances on the packaging - these include chlorine, ammonium, phosphates, triclosan. Also remember that many cleaning products cause irritation to the skin and respiratory tract, so it is worth arming yourself with rubber gloves and a face mask.
Even the most thorough cleaning will not rid your home 100% of dust. Do you want even the finest dust to disappear? Trust smart technology. with high-quality filters will definitely help in the difficult fight against dust, and those that also have the function of inactivating microorganisms will protect you and your family not only from dust, but also from various viruses, allergens and harmful bacteria.
An air purifier must have a built-in HEPA filter - it is capable of retaining the finest dust.
Room without air supply fresh air much more dusty than a constantly ventilated room. In addition, in a stuffy room it is simply difficult to breathe and go about your business. To eliminate the possibility of street dust entering your home during ventilation, you can install a compact supply ventilation system with built-in filters for air purification.
Everyone knows that there is always dust in the air we breathe. It surrounds us with an invisible (and sometimes very visible) cloud consisting of various microparticles. What is the percentage of dust in the city's atmosphere on a typical day? What does the migration route of dust particles depend on and what can prevent the city from becoming dusty?
Dust is like fog, only dust. If fog is a mass of small droplets of liquid suspended in the air, then dust is solid particles suspended in the air about a tenth of a micrometer in size. Dust in the city consists of everything possible: from pieces of soil and salts sea water to volcanic emissions.
But in general, on a typical Moscow day, the amount of “local” dust in the atmosphere is about 70 percent. Basically, we, residents of the metropolis, are covered not by particles of sand or soil, but by emissions of fuels and lubricants, dust from the rubbing of car tires on the asphalt, and in winter also by reagents that are sprinkled on the roads. It is clear that on days when another forest or peat bog is burning somewhere in the Moscow region, the amount of dust in the capital increases. For example, during the surely memorable summer of 2010, the dust content in the city exceeded the norm tens of times. And a few months ago, we all carried more than one or two pieces of burnt INION on our shoulders.
Their migration routes also depend on the size of dust particles.
Large and medium particles, larger than 1 micron in size, land in a new place within a day or several hours, and during this time they do not move far from their previous place of residence. They travel, for example, between the Butovo courtyard and the streets of Tula. Small particles can remain in the air for up to 20 days, covering vast distances. Today they are over Moscow, and after some time – over Vladivostok.
Independent air monitoring in Moscow shows that over a period of 7-10 days, the dust content changes by 1.5 - 3 times, and from May to August the average amount of dust and fluctuations in its amount in the air are much less than in the period from September to April .
Our body is not able to filter out dust smaller than 2.5 micrometers. She passes through freely Airways and enters the lungs.
In 2010, Canadian scientists published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives a map of the concentration and distribution of dust particles that can pose a risk to human health. They used satellite data to obtain the data. According to their data, the highest level of “dust threat” is in the territories of North Africa and Asia Minor. And the most dangerous region of this kind turned out to be the territory in northern China. Which is famous not for its deserts, but for its morning smog.
The World Health Organization says that on average 7 percent of heart attacks worldwide are linked to air pollution from such dust. And reducing this pollution by 10 milligrams per cubic meter reduces the risk of death by 2 percent local residents from heart attacks. And although these numbers are not high, they themselves provide remarkable evidence of the importance of even such a small thing as dust for our health.
Dust, the origin of which is less related to human activity - particles of soil and sand - is much easier to deal with than dust of industrial origin. Landscaping vacant lots, courtyards and other city squares is the most effective method. The “living” site not only strengthens the soil and prevents the city from becoming dusty, but also absorbs and processes dust particles already in the air.
Even in the apartment of the most tidy housewife, dust accumulates from time to time. It is impossible to get rid of it forever and a gray coating constantly appears on the floor, furniture and walls, it covers the radiators and glass on the windows.
What is dust and where does it come from?
Dust is called small particles with a small mass, the lightest of them are in the air, their state can be called “suspended”, and the heaviest settle on surrounding objects.
It is a mistake to think that dust particles are the result of human intervention in nature and human activities. Most of it is formed in nature and is constantly “hovering” in the air.
Dust is emitted from volcanoes and the wind carries it thousands of kilometers. Another source can be called the very surface of the Earth and grains of sand from the African desert may end up on another continent. The World Ocean can also be called a “producer” of dust particles, when dried foam is converted into small mineral residues and, thanks to coastal winds, quickly moves through the air. In addition, atmospheric layers are also sources of dust that settles on the surface of the Earth.
The composition of dust in the air in a residential area is as follows:
A gray coating of small particles is present even in non-residential premises with tightly closed windows and doors, since dust is constantly in the air. Even when there is no furniture in the room, its particles cover the walls, ceiling, radiators, and glass on the windows.
Related article: Snowflakes made of paper. Master Class
But many of us may have noticed that one room needs cleaning 1-2 times a week, while in another room plaque accumulates daily. There are a number of factors that influence the amount of dust particles settling in a room.
Where does dust come from in an apartment or house?
In residents' apartments major cities more dust settles than in a village house. Megacities are sources huge amount small particles due to more people, cars, manufacturing plants and construction sites.
- In addition, residents of apartments located on the lower floors have to clean much more often than those who live “under the roof.”
- Affect the amount of " gray plaque» in homes and highways, the closer the house is to the highway and the more active the car traffic, the more dust will settle on sofas, cabinets and floors.
- The proximity of manufacturing enterprises and construction sites will also add more worries to the housewife when maintaining cleanliness in the apartment. Small particles of sand, cement and various “loose” substances will constantly penetrate into your home, and force you to pick up a rag and vacuum cleaner more often.
Ideal “dust collectors” in our apartments
The amount of dust in an apartment also depends on its interior. There are a number of things that attract small gray particles, which will not be so easy to remove. These include:
All of these items contribute to the accumulation of a lot of dust in the room, which is difficult to get rid of.
Why is dust dangerous?
Gray plaque on furniture, walls and floors not only gives the home an untidy appearance, but can also harm the health of the people who live here. Microparticles enter the respiratory tract, which leads to allergies and diseases of the lungs and bronchi.
Some types of particles during the decomposition process are capable of releasing toxic substances, which can also lead to various complications and deterioration of health. In addition, dust is a favorite habitat for dust mites.
Related article: DIY soap - Blue windows
They enter our home from the street, we “bring” them into the house on our clothes and shoes. As a result of the vital activity of these creatures and various secretions, the atmosphere in the home sharply deteriorates, which threatens the people living there with asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia.
You will be helped by general cleaning of your home in compliance with all rules for getting rid of dust.
How to get rid of dust in an apartment
A systematic approach is important in combating it. When you're cleaning out your home, consider the following tips to reduce the amount of dust in your home:
- Leave fewer things “in sight”, put them in a tightly closed cabinet, behind a glass display case, and throw away the unnecessary ones.
- Upholstered furniture should be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner, and this should be done regularly. It will help to get rid of dust in furniture covers by “knocking out” through a damp cloth.
- Treat curtains with a steamer. If you have thick curtains on your windows, you can solve the problem by ironing them.
- Clean carpets, pillows and soft toys regularly.
- Install screens on the windows, this will help reduce the amount of dust inside the apartment.
- Don't forget to ventilate all rooms.
- Windows need to be washed at least once a month.
- If you have pets, wash their paws thoroughly after walking.
- Carry out wet cleaning at least 2 times a week.
- Vacuum and wash radiators; dirt accumulates quickly in these places.
- Get yourself indoor plants, this will give the air in your apartment additional freshness.
It is not possible to completely get rid of dust, but it is possible to reduce the intensity of its occurrence in your home.
If you add a little potassium permanganate to the water in which you wet the cloth for wiping dust, then dust will accumulate on the surfaces more slowly.
I want to share with you information about house dust, or rather about its danger if no measures are taken. Taking five bags, the owner of the house collected samples: one ball of dust was from under the bed, another was taken from the blades of a ceiling fan, the third was from under the kitchen stove, the fourth was velvety green in color, found on the inlet grille of the air conditioner. Finally, the journalist took the fifth ball from under the heating radiator from her neighbor, a bald bachelor who also did not keep dogs or cats, which made it possible to find a rare sample of house dust, obviously containing neither hair nor fur. Having delivered her samples to the laboratory, the journalist submitted them for analysis and, while pre-processing was underway, asked the employees about the subject of their research. She learned that several hundred books dedicated to all types of dust have been published around the world. Among these volumes there is even a work “Dust and the Law” - a review of cases from judicial practice related to dust. This book tells, in particular, about a case where dust was used to expose an impostor. One millionaire, dying, bequeathed his fortune to his son, whom he had not seen for many years. Two people presented their rights to the inheritance, both with credible documents. To find out which of the two was the real heir, they found a pediatrician who had treated the son of a millionaire many years ago. He was unable to indicate the real heir, but after looking at the child’s surviving medical record, the doctor came up with an interesting idea. He sent both applicants to the basement to shovel coal. When they went upstairs, the doctor pointed to one of them on whose face small white spots appeared through a layer of coal dust. This is the legal heir, the doctor said. The medical history stated that he suffered from smallpox. And although the small pockmarks were not noticeable, the doctor knew that the dust would not stick to them, and they would appear. Experts estimate that 43 million tons of dust settle in the United States every year. Moreover, approximately 31 million tons are of natural origin, and the remaining 12 million are the result of human activity. Most important source of dust- the soil. In second place are the oceans, which throw small salt crystals into the air. Estimates of the total mass of these salt grains range from 300 million to 10 billion tons per year. Of course, it is not the crystals themselves that are thrown out, but the smallest droplets of water that appear when the sea is rough and when air bubbles rising to the surface are destroyed. The droplets dry out and the air becomes saturated with salts. Most of the crystals rise high into the air and serve as nuclei for the condensation of water vapor. If there was no dust in the air, there would be no clouds. The third most important source of dust is volcanoes. They produce the largest dust particles. The famous eruption of the Krakatoa volcano on August 26-28, 1883 (see “Science and Life” N7 1984) released more than 18 cubic meters into the atmosphere. km of crushed rocks, and part of this mass flew to a height of 40-50 km. Three months later, dust from Indonesia, where the volcano is located, flew to Europe, and for another three years, daylight throughout the entire earth was dimmer than usual, and sunsets and sunrises were more picturesque, crimson, thanks to the scattering of light on small dust particles. Larger dust particles, for example, those that enter the atmosphere during large forest fires, produce a bluish haze, scattering red light, allowing the blue part of the spectrum to pass through. The Sun then seems cold and the Moon blue. A major source of volcanic dust is the Japanese volcano Sakurajima on the island of Kyushu. Its last major eruption took place in January of this year, but the volcano is constantly smoking, annually releasing about 14 million tons of dust into the atmosphere. The nearby city of Kagoshima is considered the dustiest city in the world, its streets are always covered in dust and ash. There was also some yeast, cat hair, pollen and a lot of blue and pink fibers, as a natural fabric specialist explained. Blue synthetic fibers, possibly from underwear, were found in the dust from a radiator from a neighbor's apartment. Natural fibers differ from synthetic fibers by being less smooth and having a flattened, irregular structural shape. “But in the dust from under the bed they found something terrible, something like a microscopic rhinoceros with crayfish claws. All the laboratory employees came running to see the wonder. After heated discussions and searching in books, they came to the conclusion that this is one of the fifty mites known in the world that live in house dust.” These microscopic creatures live in our mattresses, pillows, beds and upholstered furniture, in accumulations of dust on the floor. They are difficult to see with the naked eye. These mites feed on the 50 million flakes of skin that each of us shed every day. They cannot feed on living skin; they need precisely fallen, dried out particles of it, which has been proven in experiments. Several hundred of these mites, in a flat vessel open on one side, were bandaged to the experimenter’s hand. After a few days, all the individuals were dead - living skin did not suit them. Ticks are carried from apartment to apartment by drafts, carried on clothes, shoes or with furniture, but for them to move independently to a neighboring house is the same as for a person to cross the United States on foot. It is estimated that there are about two million in the average double bed. They do not cause harm, although in some people these mites secrete up to 20 microscopic peas per day and cause allergies. One Japanese company has begun producing a vacuum cleaner that not only collects dust along with mites, but also heats the collected dust, killing the mites. This, according to the inventors, prevents the mites from re-dispersing from the dust collector throughout the apartment. Without such a vacuum cleaner, Penny Moser decided not to pay any attention and pretend that she did not know about them, just as she did not know before visiting the laboratory. “That night, as always, my husband, my cat, and two million ticks slept comfortably in our bed.” The fact that house dust can cause allergic reactions in some people has long been the case, but only about twenty years ago it became known that allergies are caused not by the dust itself, but by microscopic mites living in it, 70-80% of which are bed mites. To combat these mites, you need to ventilate, iron or warm up bed linen, pillows, mattresses, blankets more often - these arthropods are afraid of both cold and heat, say a temperature of plus 40 ° C kills them in two days, and a higher one much faster. They are also afraid of direct rays of the sun, and ultraviolet radiation not only kills ticks, but also decomposes the allergens contained in them and their excrement within two hours (these allergens can withstand boiling in water for an hour without disintegrating). If there is a strong infestation, you have to change all the pillows and, preferably, new ones with synthetic filling (feather filling for some types of mites serves as an additional source of food). Although bed mites do not disperse far from their habitat, in an apartment heavily infested with them, it is advisable to wash the floor with a 10-20% solution of table salt. And once a month, etch home slippers, where they also find shelter, food, and a means of transport to neighboring rooms with formaldehyde fumes, or vinegar essence, tying the slippers for a while in a plastic bag with a few drops of liquid at the bottom. Insecticides are not used because their effect is short-lived and dangerous to humans. In modern houses, where we suffer from very dry air, dust mites are almost or completely absent - they require high humidity. Therefore, by the way, they are not afraid of wet cleaning, but their number decreases after dry cleaning. Particles from dust balls brought to the laboratory were placed on different nutrient media, and after a few days they grew interesting cultures- various molds and bacteria. Important integral part All samples turned out to be rubber dust from car tires rubbing against asphalt and concrete. As a rule, its clouds do not rise above the fourth floor, and at the level of the seventh floor it is practically gone. Average resident big city every day inhales about 500 billion dust particles, and many of them are rubber ones. Although most of these particles are immediately exhaled, many remain in the nose, larynx and lungs. Our body has no poor defense from dust particles. They stick to the mucus covering the surface of the respiratory tract and, together with this mucus, to the exit - into the larynx. They are moved by countless cilia that line the lining of the respiratory tract. These cilia synchronously perform wave-like movements that remove all microscopic particles trapped inside the lungs out. Coughing and expectoration removes them. However, if the dust content in the air exceeds the norm, this system cannot cope. When dust storms raged in the thirties due to the predatory plowing of the prairies in the Western United States, the lungs of many local residents were so clogged with soil that they could not clear their throats. After treatment to widen the spasmodically contracted airways, these people coughed up pencil-thin cylinders of caked dust from their bronchi. The air inside the house is always dustier than outside, unless you live in a large industrial city.
Tags: dust, house dust, house dust mites, house dust mites, in dust, dust mites, mites, dust analysis, dust composition
Maryland Medical Research Laboratory House Dust Analysis
An important source of dust for the entire globe is the Sahara Desert (see “Science and Life” N2, 1985). Rain with pinkish dust, blown by wind from the Sahara, falls in both England and Florida. Dust from the Sahara colors the snow on the mountains of Central America. The wind annually raises from 60 to 200 million tons of dust in this largest desert in the world. Samples of all these types of dust are available in any apartment. There is even extraterrestrial dust, coming mainly from comets and meteorites, which adds 10 tons to the Earth's mass every year. There is also flower pollen here. There was especially a lot of it in the air conditioner, which sucks in air from the street. Under a microscope, crystals of boric acid, which is used as a remedy for cockroaches, were found in the dust from under the kitchen stove.
The most interesting result was obtained from dust from the fan and from the air conditioner; spores of the causative agent of gangrene were found here. Experts explained that these spores are carried by the wind and can get anywhere, but will only cause gangrene if they get into deep wound where oxygen does not penetrate. These microbes can only multiply in oxygen-free conditions.Video about house dust
Discuss this article on the forum
