Overview
- UNAM’s Environmental Geophysics Lab analyzed roughly 480 citizen-collected dust samples from homes in 14 Mexican cities and reported results in the journal Indoor Air.
- Compared with studies in the UK and Spain, Mexican household dust showed greater toxicity, with Mexico City levels reported up to three times higher than several British cities.
- Indoor dust in Morelia and Mexico City carried higher concentrations than outdoor dust for metals including manganese, nickel, copper, zinc, antimony, and lead.
- Researchers link the accumulation to gas cooking that produces magnetic particles such as magnetite, plus wear of paints, furniture, and plastics, with children at particular risk through oral, inhalation, and skin exposure.
- The team urges frequent cleaning, maintaining paint and furniture, washing curtains, placing plants to capture particulates, and removing shoes at entry, and it is fielding new sampling requests from cities in Mexico, the United States, Spain, and Uruguay.