Eli5: How don’t our lungs get clogged or permanently damaged from the average dust we inhale?

Question

I mean regular, floaty gray dust that you find in the average house. The stuff that spreads out after hitting a pillow or a curtain, but not limited to that. Does our mucus do everything, and no smaller particles make it deep into our breathing apparatus and clogging it?

In: 1

Answer 1

The nose and mucus of our airway do a pretty good job of keeping most stuff out of our lungs. Too much dust could cause coughing to expel it. I believe the lungs also have macrophages to deal with contaminants.