Myth: 90% of dust is human skin
01/01/07 00:00 Filed in: Science
Is 90% of dust really dead
skin?
Myth
Science tells us that 90% of common house dust is made up of 90% (sometimes 80%) of dead human skin.
Reality
Like most scientific 'facts' that shock, it's untrue. Dust is in fact made up of all the sorts of stuff you might imagine it is. But it varies in content and mixture based upon location. After all, where is a common house?
The fact is that dust is made up of pollen, fibres (both organic plant, paper and man-made), dirt, particulate of building matter (e.g. brick dust, mortar etc) and many other bits of less attractive stuff. But only a tiny percentage is actually made up of dead human skin.
The myth has perhaps endured due to its shock factor and the efforts of vacuum cleaner marketing staff. So dust isn't made from people. That's Soylent Green you're thinking of.
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