With spring cleaning season upon us, Dr Manal Mohammed, Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology and Course Leader of Medical Sciences BSc Honours at the University of Westminster, has spoken to the magazine Prima about where dust comes from, what it is and how to get rid of it.
Throughout the article Dr Mohammed helps the reader understand all aspects of dust, from why it is there to how people’s habits can affect it. She explains that owning a pet, using candles, smoking, cooking and the number of people living in a house can all have a profound effect.
She said: “Dust is a hodgepodge of all sorts of other components, such as dust mites, insect body parts, moulds, bacteria, viruses, pollen, hair […] Indeed, your home will have its own unique makeup of dust based on many factors, including where you live and how many people live there, as well your cooking, cleaning and smoking habits, whether you have pets and even how you clean your room.”
When looking at how to tackle the dust in the home, Dr Mohammed highlights that resorting to “obsessive cleaning” is not the answer. She explains: “You don’t need to have a germ free home […] Obsessive cleaning disrupts normal microbiome biodiversity, which plays a crucial role in promoting our health. Plus, our immune system’s need to be exposed to microbes to fully mature and be able to fight them.”
As a solution, she lists a variety of ways to clean the house without disrupting its natural microbiome, including opening windows when dusting, killing dust mites and swapping the duster for a vacuum.
The article directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good Health and Wellbeing. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
The article has also been published by the German publication Die Stimme Berlins.
Find out more about the School of Life Sciences at the University of Westminster.
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