 PARTICLES IN THE AIR 
The air you breathe is full of all kinds of unpleasant things. Here are some of them.When someone sneezes, the mist of liquid droplets from their nose will be suspended in the air for a long time. You can walk into a room where someone sneezed five minutes ago, and you'll be breathing in those particles. And any germs attached to them. But wait ... it gets worse! When someone passes gas, odour molecules and bits of fecal matter from that person's bowels are expelled into the air. How much is released depends on the filtering efficiency of their underwear and pants. Odour molecules are very tiny, so a lot of those escape into the air ... they're what causes your nose to register the bad smell. Particles of fecal matter that are very small, along with intestinal bacteria and other germs, may also make it into the air ... and you breathe them in and swallow them. Cigarette smoke and all the harmful chemicals contained in that smoke seem to disappear after a few moments. You can't see the smoke any more. But the particles have just dispersed into the air, and are invisible. If you can smell the smoke, the particles are still there, and you breathe them in. This is called 'second-hand smoke', and it's just as bad for you as smoking. If you live in a house with a smoker, you're a smoker too, whether you want to be or not! Eventually the smoke particles settle on counters, walls, clothing, and anything else that's exposed. (This is what makes ceilings brown, windows filmy, and curtains smelly, in houses where people smoke). Any particles that settle on surfaces you touch will get onto your hands, and into your mouth. GERMS  The surfaces all around you are covered with miscroscopic bits of dirt, dust ... and germs. All kinds of germs. And some of them are deadly. Not to mention disgusting.Run your fingers across the counter beside you, or rub your finger along a row of keys on your keyboard. You've just picked up a layer of germs on your fingers ... germs like ecoli bacteria ... as well as particles of fecal matter. Guess where they go when you eat your lunch? Bacteria and other unpleasant particles are everywhere, on every surface, and there's not much we can do about it. They come from the hands of other people, who may have had a cold, or perhaps forgot to wash after using the bathroom. They come from the liquid expelled when someone sneezes. They are deposited from the air after someone has passed gas. Bacteria and fecal matter get left behind. Every surface in the room you're in contains them. And they will transfer to your hands, and get onto your food when you eat, or into your eyes when you rub them. There's no escaping them. Cleaning helps, but only temporarily. Surfaces washed with something that kills germs (like bleach) will be free of contaminants ... for a while. But soon, more bacteria and other stuff are deposited, and the surfaces are dirty again. Depending on how much traffic there is in the area, this could be in as little as a few minutes. Ordinarily the amounts of these nasty substances are quite tiny. You certainly can't see them, and you may never even be aware that you're covered in them. Germs that get into your body in these tiny quantities are easily handled by your body's immune system, so you usually don't get sick either. Usually. Once in a while, however, the number of germs you ingest may be exceptionally large. This will give your body's defenses a little trouble, and the result may be that you get 'sick' ... which could just be the side effects of your body's attempts to kill the germs. Eventually all the germs get killed, and you start to feel better. But if the germs are nasty ones ... like ecoli bacteria ... you could get really sick, or even die, unless you take antibiotics to help kill the germs. If it's not too late. All because someone forgot to wash their hands before leaving the bathroom. EYELASH MITES 
Demodex folliculorum, or the demodicid, is a tiny mite, less than 0.4 mm long, that lives in your pores and hair follicles, usually on your nose, forehead, cheek, and chin, and often in the roots of your eyelashes. Demodicids have a wormlike appearance, with legs that are mere stumps. That's a picture of one on the left. People with oily skin, or those who use cosmetics heavily and don't wash thoroughly, have the heaviest infestations ... but most adults carry a few demodicids and their eggs. Inflammation and infection often result when large numbers of these mites congregate in a single follicle. DUST BUNNIES 
Those great big dust bunnies under your bed, and behind that shelf in the hall, are unavoidable. Strangely enough, there's very little actual dust in a dust bunny. Mostly they're made up of human and pet hair, and dead skin particles. You're always losing hairs and skin particles, as old ones slough off and new ones grow. The old ones have to go somewhere. They end up in dust bunnies.
IMPURITIES IN FOOD 
That jar of peanut butter or other product you just opened may look good, and may even be described as 100% pure. But it's not. It's only as pure as it needs to be to be certified safe to eat. Peanut butter, for example, is allowed to have up to two partial rodent hairs or insect parts per large jar, because they are undetectable by you, and almost impossible to remove.And harmless, of course. In general, the less processing that has been done to the food you eat, the more bits of insects and other creatures you are likely also ingesting. Vegetables, fruit, peanuts, meat, and similar foods all contain tiny bits of dead insect, or larva, or eggs, or other organic impurities. These are deemed safe to eat because the quantities are so small as to be undetectable, and they are not harmful. |