Did you know that 70% of the dust in your home comes from....

[Shine]

flakes of human skin?? :puke: Ewwww....

I'd known of this scrumptious little factoid, but had conveniently forgotten it...until reminded of it again tonite, courtesy of my 12 yr old son, during DINNER, of course. :eyes:

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. That's why I encased myself in carbonite.

No more dust from me!

[Shine]

11. Must be tricky when going to the bathroom...

:D

[Ouabache]

29. Plastic wrap and duct tape would have been cheaper

and would have made you immune to terrorist attacks as well...

[Rabrrrrrr]

32. Terrorist attacks do not concern me.

:rofl:

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. If our skin flakes off

all our stuff will fall out.

:scared:

[Shine]

12. Don't worry, they're MICROSCOPIC flakes.

hopefully your body parts aren't microscopic, too. :evilgrin:

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. Yeah, but enough of 'em flakin'...

:scared:

[Shine]

22. Yeah, scary, huh?

isn't it true that our skin cells are constantly regenerating themselves and we basically have a whole new layer of skin every few years or so....something like that.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

3. I remember hearing somewhere...

that if the little bugs that eat our skin flakes didn't, we'd practically be swimming in them. Yummy. I also read that there is a particular eyelash folicle bug that developed a taste for mascara.

Northern Exposure did a whole pisode on the bugs that we all carry with us.

[lizziegrace]

4. I remember that one

ewwww!!

[mainegreen]

5. Ever here about the microscopic worm that if every thing on earth..

was removed there would be an outline of everything made of these worms.

Ung,.

[Shine]

14. Ewwww...

I haven't heard that one.

Yup, we're all in one great big organic soup, together. :D

[Shine]

13. Oh, that's pretty wild about the eyelash follicle bug and the mascara

haven't heard THAT one before...jeez, who knew? Talk about adaptation...

[ThingsGottaChange]

23. Here's some of the little darlings now...

http://www.sciencephoto.com/search/searchLogic.html?subtype=feature&searchstring=Eyelash+Mites&featureid=758



edited for not knowing difference betweeen period and comma

[Straight Shooter]

26. Oh, yes, absolutely darling.

:7



"Follicle mite nymph. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a follicle or eyelash mite nymph (Demodex folliculorum). This harmless parasite lives inside human hair follicles (depressions in the skin containing the roots of hairs). Up to 25 nymphs hatch in a single follicle, develop into adults, then mate and enter new follicles. The mites infest the skin of the eyelids, nose and ear canals, feeding on oily secretions from the skin's sebaceous glands, as well as dead skin cells. Infestation is usually symptomless, but allergic reactions to the mites in susceptible individuals can cause hair loss and acne. Magnification: x820 at 6x7cm size."

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

In my house, I think it's mostly made of cat fur.

In fact, I think cats are made entirely of fur, and that their entire function in life is to eat in order to produce fur and a bit of poo. It's also how they reproduce: when the wads of cat fur under the couch reach critical mass, another cat is created.

[Shine]

17. LOL!! We've got two cats, so yes, we can relate.

our homes are filled with human flakes of skin and cat fur.....great. :puke:

[Ptah]

6. Will you reward him by adding house dust to the

party menu?

[Shine]

16. I don't have to add it cuz it's already there!!

Yummy! :9

[jpgray]

7. And 70% of those come from the person hiding under your mattress right now

[Shine]

18. or possibly IN the mattress...

:scared:

[Xipe Totec]

8. Well Ye-ha!

There's nothing but flakes living in my house.

What didja 'xpect? :shrug:

[Shine]

19. Bug Central on our bodies, too.

mmmmm.....

:D

[derby378]

9. "It's not dander, honey - I'm just biodegradable!"

My all-time favorite excuse... :toast:

[Shine]

20. heheheh.

"Bio-degradable", I love it. How PC of you! :thumbsup:

[crim son]

10. A vacuum cleaner salesperson came to our house once

and told my mother that. He called the stuff "body ash" and said that there were probably several pounds of it in every mattress in the house. Which is nice.

[Shine]

21. Ewwww..."body ash" makes me think of an urn, somehow.

the thought of pounds of it in our bed is NOT very appealing. At least we've got some comfortable sheets with a high-thread count. :D

it's the little things...literally AND figuratively....

[swag]

24. No wonder everything is so yummy.

[leftofthedial]

25. not if it's spring or fall

and you have a Siberian Husky, it doesn't

[dysfunctional press]

27. don't forget dust mite feces-

there's lot's of that out there too.

[liberaltrucker]

28. Kids say the damndest things, huh?

****geek alert****

Fact is, we evolved right along with these microscopic
organisms that eat our shed cells. Didn't seem to hinder
our survival. Bon Apatite!(sp).

[JVS]

30. Along with 80% of the material in my compost heap

[In_The_Wind]

31. The rest of it comes from bird dander.

That's why Frodo and I shower together.
It's way more fun that dusting!