Why is Dust Containment Such a Big Deal?

Our first few blog posts will be dedicated to the exciting world of dust, why dust can be dangerous and the 'art' of containment. 

We have been engaged in evolving conversations with healthcare contractors and hospital personnel for nearly 10 years seeking to better understand safe and efficient dust containment with the goal of reducing hospital acquired infections. 

There remains a large degree of ignorance and wishful thinking on the subject of dust containment. After all, we all encounter dust everyday and for most of us, it is just a natural nuisance of life. Right? Well "yes"...and "no". 

If someone doesn't understand how infections go airborne, then they won't understand why dust can be a major problem and why dust containment and air filtration are such a significant focus in hospitals. The fact is, in certain circumstances, the dust we breath can be a very real threat to our health. 

To complicate matters, it is not necessarily the true dust that is the problem, but rather what it carries -- microscopic 'bugs' that we can't see. The infected dust is how these microscopic 'bugs' can make their way into our bodies.

The actual process in its most simplistic form is explained as follows. 

1.  Settled dust particles become infected with an airborne bacteria, virus or fungi (or potentially other toxins).

2.  An environmental disturbance (generally air turbulence) places those infected dust particles into the air.

3.  Those infected dust particles are then carried into other areas and potentially inhaled into the lungs of people...all kinds of people. 

4.  While those who are healthy and inhale this dust are at less risk, those with compromised immune systems are at risk for severe illness and death.

The risks have been documented and there is obviously a moral responsibility to protect patients in our healthcare facilities. There are, however a whole host of other consequences involved in properly protecting patients with dust containment and HEPA-filtration. We can tackle those questions in future posts.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about dust containment or our HEPACART™ product line, you can find out more about us at www.hepacart.com, e-mail us at info@hepacart.com or simply click the button below to download our catalog:

Also, feel free to add a comment below to further the conversation and best of luck with your next containment or filtration project.