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Dust Bunnies May be Contributing to the Childhood Obesity Epidemic

The Destructive Dust Bunny Orange County, CA - April 3rd, 2019 - Prior studies have shown that the average home in the United States, collects 40 pounds of dust each year. A person creates 1/3 ounce of dead skin each week. This dead skin combines with other particles, to create household dust. A new study, which findings presented at ENDO 2019, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana showed chemicals found in household dust might promote fat cell development and contribute to increased weight gain in adolescents. Researchers examined endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) discovered in dust particles, collected in fat cells causing them to fill up with triglycerides and inflicting more fat cells to be made. This is some of the first research investigating links between exposure to chemical mixtures present in the indoor environment and metabolic health of children living in those homes,” said Christopher Kassotis, lead researcher of the study. EDCs are mixtures of chemicals or chemicals interfere with the way the body’s hormones work. Some EDCs act like "hormone mimics" and trick our body into thinking that they are hormones, while other EDCs block natural hormones from doing their job. However, preclinical studies have also implied that early exposure to the chemicals can boost triglyceride accumulation and increase weight. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), children inhale, absorb or ingest an estimated 60 to 100 milligrams of dust per day. The author of the study, Heather Stapelton, noted that “amounts of dust as low as three micrograms - well below the mass of dust that children are exposed to daily - caused measurable effects.” The researchers analyzed extracted chemicals from 194 dust samples collected from 11 homes in North Carolina. They were then tested for their capability to assist in fat cell development. The chemicals were placed near a pre-adipocyte mouse cell model to test substances for their potential effects on triglyceride accumulation. Results showed that there were insufficient amounts of the extracts supported precursor fat cell proliferation and seven of the samples caused pre-adipocytes to grow into fat cells. Additionally, once the process starts, it will not be able to be reversed, and once the fat cells reach a certain size, more new fat cells begin to develop. “This suggests that the mixture of these chemicals in house dust is promoting the accumulation of triglycerides and fat cells,” says Stapelton. The study resulted in the researchers discovering that many of the dust EDCs were significantly increased in the homes of overweight or obese adolescents. More research will continue to examine the chemicals usually seen in detergents, paints, and cosmetics to establish which could be linked to or increase in weight.