Did You Know? Your Household Dust Is Toxic!
When you stop to consider it, you begin to realise how true this is.
Every home has dust. This is normal. Each household has differing dust particle quantities, depending on a massive range of factors. Things like where you live, what you cook, how many people (and animals) live there… Even the climate can make a difference to your dust!
Household dust is often comprised of a mix of toxic and non-toxic particles, including carpet fibres, human hair and skin, pet dander, mould spores, soil tracked in from outside, and many other things. Just using a home-use pesticide or flame retardant might not mean much at the time, but these are examples of where you can get harmful chemicals in your dust. This of course does stretch to other items found in the average house – furniture, electronics, shoes, plastics, food and fabrics, just to name a few! – as many items inside your home release chemicals over time.
One type of toxic chemical commonly found in household dust to be aware of is chemical flame retardants (also known as PBDEs). PBDEs have been added to numerous household and everyday products as many materials used in making products has become more heavily influenced by highly flammable synthetic materials, rather than less combustible natural materials used in the past. Tests conducted in 2004 by EWG reveal the surprising degree to which flame retardant chemicals escape from consumer products and settle in household dust (from things like degrading foam or the plastics in electronic items).
So what can you do?
Vacuum with a HEPA filter frequently. Ensure that you change the filter regularly to keep it working well.
Wipe furniture with a damp cloth or microfibre cloth. Make sure that the cloth is not dripping wet as this could potentially lead to mould growth! Don’t use synthetic sprays when dusting.
Caulk and seal cracks to prevent dust from accumulating in difficult to reach locations.
Keep your electronics dust free by damp dusting as well.