Research says house dust can promote weight gain

If you have gained weight in recent times, then think twice before blaming it on the extra cheese that you took with your pizza or the cheesy pasta that you have been indulging in. Everyday house dust could also be a cause of your weight gain. Researchers at the Duke University have pointed out that chemicals from various common household products latch in to dust particles and some of these chemicals promote the development of fats cells in a cell model.

Some of the earlier research has also showed that such chemicals trigger triglycerides which is a type of fat in blood. The Endocrine society has written that many observational studies have found a link between exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and has increased the weight in humans. The researchers from Duke collected more than 200 dust samples from homes in North Carolina and extracted the chemicals from the dust.

The study had mainly aimed at determining if the household dust contributes to childhood obesity. However, the risk appears to be relatively low but the research did find that many fat cell development chemicals found in the cleaners and laundry detergents among other common household items that were significantly elevated in dust found in homes of children who were overweight or obese. Christopher Kassotis, the Duke University postdoctoral research fellow in a press statement said, “We found that two-thirds of dust extracts were able to promote fat-cell development and half promote precursor fat-cell proliferation at 100 micrograms, or approximately 1,000 times lower levels than what children consume on a daily basis”.

On the other hand the Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that children typically consume between 60 to 100 milligrams of dust on an everyday basis. Next time you think you have gained weight due the extra calories that you have consumed, think again and look at the dust that you can find inside your home.

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