Dust in the Wind

“Nobody normally thinks about dust, what it might be doing or where it should go: it is so tiny, so totally, absolutely, mundane, that it slips beneath the limits of vision. But if we pay attention, we can see the world within it.” Empire of dust: what the tiniest specks reveal about the world. Just in your house, there are “skin flakes, pet dander, hair, textile fibers, disintegrating bits of particleboard furniture, sofa foam and all the chemicals – such as flame retardants – that are designed to keep you safe, but can also cause cancer, decrease fertility, impact cognitive ability and cause thyroid disease. Road dust and construction dust blow into your home through the windows and walk in on the soles of your shoes – alongside fragments of mineral dust from distant deserts and perhaps even the odd radioactive particle. A doormat is only so much use.”