Whether you like it or not, your home, no matter how clean you keep it, is filled with all kinds of bugs. But from an allergy perspective, the most troublesome by far are house mites.
House mites are tiny eight-legged creatures belonging to the arachnid class of organisms, which are distantly related to the spider. Two kinds of mites, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Derma-tophagoides farinae, are the major culprits in mite-related allergic rhinitis. Either or both of these organisms may be present in the home and responsible for the symptoms. The average amount of humidity, 60 percent, and the average temperature, 70 degrees, found year-round in most climate-controlled homes are ideal conditions for the proliferation of these bugs. In general, they abound in the East and in the Gulf Coast areas of the United States; they are seldom found in the Rocky Mountain states due to the less favorable climatic conditions for them in those regions.
The name Dermatophagoides means "eats skin"; it is an appropriate name for these tiny creatures because they feed primarily on skin cells shed from humans and pets and on feather-stuffed bedding and furniture. Since skin cells literally cascade off by the tens of thousands each minute whenever you walk, move around on furniture or bedding, or brush off your clothing, the hungry mites in your home do not have far to go for their next meal.
Interestingly, "so-called" allergies to feathers are seldom allergies to the feathers themselves; instead, they are reactions to the house mites that live among and feed on the feathers, which are very closely related chemically to skin cells. This means that rather than just avoiding bird feathers, you should be very cautious around down pillows, comforters, quilts, sleeping bags, and jackets because of their high mite concentrations. And the older the product, the more likely that it will cause problems due to a high concentration of mites.
Not surprisingly, the greatest number of house mites are found in and around areas where humans and pets spend most of their time loose, long-pile carpeting, upholstered furniture, stuffed toys, clothing, and bedding. It has been estimated that forty-two thousand mites are in each ounce of mattress dust, making a grand total of about two million mites in the average double bed. In addition, each mite produces ten airborne pellets of feces each day, magnifying the overall house dust problem.
Products containing kapok, a cottony fiber derived from the fruit of the silk cotton tree found in Central and South America, may also provoke attacks of perennial allergic rhinitis in some predisposed people. Dry, lightweight, and buoyant, kapok is used to stuff mattresses, pillows, sleeping bags, and life vests. It is also found in carpet padding, upholstered furniture, and the linings of some heavy coats. As in the case of feathers, allergic reactions to the material are believed to be related to the invasion of house dust mites rather than to the fibers themselves. Once again, the older the item, the more troublesome it is likely to be.
