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Article: Ask Professor Ossolotch. (Discoveries).(where house dust comes from)
- Article from:
- Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- October 25, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Where does house dust come from?
Lauren Wright
Limerick, Pa.
Dear Lauren,
House dust is a mixture of many things--bits of soil, mold and fungus spores, particles of food, fibers from fabrics, cockroach droppings. But the major component in house dust--some say as much as 90 percent--is flecks of cutaneous membrane, or human skin.
Cutaneous membrane has several layers to it. The lower layers contain blood vessels, fat tissue, sweat glands, nerve cells, and hair follicles. The top layer, or epidermis, consists largely of cells called keratinocytes (KER-e-TIN-oh-SIGHTZ) that are tough and waterproof ...