Hormonally active dust
Hormonally active dust, according to Harvard Healthy Building researchers, “contains a stew of dozens of chemicals that migrate out of furnishings and that can interfere with sperm counts, fertility, successful birth, and the timing of puberty and menopause.”
While of course wet-dusting and using a HEPA vacuum and filter are effective ways to reduce exposure, the real answer is that furnishings shouldn’t be made with unnecessary flame retardants and PFAS in the first place. According to one of the researchers on the study, “We just need healthier materials to become the norm, not the exception.”
Keep asking what the products in your home you buy are made of! We can drive change and make hormonally active dust a thing of the past.
Photo of the coziest space I’ve ever seen by Eric Piasecki. Design by Rita Konig.