Clothing dryers can cause fabric lint to become airborne dust
I was amazed to learn that North and South America are plagued with dust clouds coming across the Atlantic from the Saharan Desert. It amazes myself and others that so much dust can get so high into the atmosphere that it can travel tens of thoUSnds of miles before settling back toward the Earth. I assumed that the rising dust percentages in our state were due to residential and commercial development, however that is only half the story. Yes, a lot of industrial and agricultural work will create a dusty environment, however our particular state hugs the Atlantic ocean! Apparently, a lot of our dust that we get here is coming across the ocean from West Africa. After it finishes its journey through the upper atmosphere, it eventually falls back to the Earth as it comes into contact with dry land. Every locale between our state and Brazil is getting inundated with dust outside right now. However, I l received about another source for dust in our house, and that’s our clothing dryer. I read that the same fabric lint that you pull out of your dryer’s lint trap before each load of laundry can get into your indoor air. Obviously your dryer isn’t air tight and can’t be expected to retain all of the lint that is generated by your clothing as it is heated up and dried out. Because I do so much laundry each week, I have been decreasing the filters in our a/c and media media air cleaners more frequently. The dust on those filters does not lie, and I will be looking for ways to limit our use of the clothes dryer. I might even put up a clothesline in the backyard to save on energy as well.