Dust

What, exactly, is dust? Is the dust in a dust storm the same as dust in a home?  I think not. At least not entirely.  From what I’ve read, at least some portion of dust found in the house comes from living (and dead, decomposing bodies) dust mites, along with dead skin cells, human hair, among other things.  Dust storms, on the other hand, apparently don’t contain a lot of dust mite corpses.

Though it’s not scientific and I have nothing other than anecdotal evidence to support it, my theory is that house dust is far greater in houses with carpet.  I suspect that carpet has far more surface area where dust can find a home, compared to solid surface floors, so any mite corpses that find their way to a carpeted floor tend to fall between the carpet fibers and collect there.  The dust mite bodies that fall on a hard-surface floor may get blown away by air circulation caused by human  movement.  Vacuuming carpet does not get to as many dust mite bodies as does mopping a hard-surface floor, so there are more dust mite corpses littering a carpeted floor than there are on a hard-surface floor.  At least that’s my contention.

I wonder if there’s a book about dust?  You know, a book that really explains dust…but does it in a way that’s interesting.  I haven’t looked for such a book.  If it hasn’t been written, maybe it’s about time someone started writing it.  Any volunteers?