Could yours and your family’s health be under attack in your own home?. The tiny Dust Mites are pocket sized bugs (one eightieth of an inch long) related to ticks and spiders. These nasties are turtle shaped creatures with eight legs and are too small to be seen with the naked eye. They live on the discarded dead skin flakes in household dust – skin that we shed every time we move or scratch etc. There is hardly a house in the USA or Europe without them.

The interesting thing is the amount can vary enormously between houses in the same street, some containing huge numbers and others hardly any. The Mites’ survival does not only depend on the amount of dust, but more vitally, on how humid the house is. They must have high humidity just to keep living.

When they find these optimal conditions, Dust Mites can to thrive for anywhere between 3-4 months. With females laying as many as 25 to 50 eggs, with a new brood produced every three weeks!

Incredibly, it is not the Mite itself that is the problem. It is their waste that is the danger. They need help (chemical assistance) to break down the shed skin before it can be digested. This is the problem (or rather what happens when the digestion is finished). The chemical along with the waste skin passes into the droppings.

Remember that the mite is so incredibly small and its droppings will be many times smaller yet. Each mite will produce about twenty droppings daily. Each of these droppings holds perhaps 10-12 bundles of sub pellets roughly about 2-10 micron in size and contain their left over enzymes. Once disturbed, by a gust of wind or someone walking through a room, these droppings fly into the air. They are so light that they can stay up in the air for ages.

The trouble is, this is right where your nostrils are pulling in their air from.As we breathe, we also breathe in the mite droppings. Sadly, these come complete with those powerful protein enzymes that digest our skin. The trouble is that these enzymes cannot differentiate between live or dead skin.

These enzymes start to attack the linings of your nose and bronchial tubes (in other words what you breathe through).

Over a period of time this carries on unnoticed until you become "sensitised". By this time the linings have become damaged and reduced in size. You are about to have an attack. These can be triggered by various things such as… pollen, pollution, car fumes, paint, VOCs (volatile organic compounds). This is when the body reacts to it and starts off an allergic reaction. How do we stop this?

Two things help. Ventilation and good vacuum cleaner filtration. Increase the ventilation of the house and make sure the bag is replaced regularly

If you can, use a water filter vacuum cleaner. They pass the dust over a container full of water. The dust and dirt gets captured by the water and is not sent back up in the atmosphere as it is with some systems. Have your carpets professionally cleaned. Make sure they are done properly and dried off quickly (a poor cleaning job will leave the carpets warm and damp – ideal conditions for mites to multiply). Ask your carpet cleaner about anti mite treatment (you can buy carpet protector with this built in. The anti mite treatment stays in place and works away night and day). This way you’ll have twelve month protection.