We breathe in dust all the time; dirt in the air, dead skin cells, smog, sawdust, etc. where does this all eventually go? It can’t physically all just build up or we would eventually suffocate right?
In: 48
It’s gets trapped in tiny hair like projections in the lungs called “cilia”. You produce mucus in the lungs and the cilla move back and forward and “sweep” the mucus with the dirt and dust trapped in it up and into your throat until you cough or clear your throat.
The airways in your lungs are covered in a mucus layer. The walls are also lined with “cilia” which are like little hairs that are constantly “beating” in a direction that sweeps the mucus (and all the debris stuck in it) up and out of the lungs and into the throat, where you swallow it or spit it out. [Here’s a diagram of cilia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Blausen_0766_RespiratoryEpithelium.png) for the sake of a visual.
Our bodies become angry at breathing in dust mite poop and try to rage quit.
Source: am asthmatic.
Some dust just collects in your lungs and can cause serious health problems. Silicosis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicosis) is caused by regularly breathing in concrete/ceramic/glass dust.
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