Scientists Catalog Individual Dust Particles STEVE INSKEEP,
HOST: Now, even if you do not suffer from asthma, it may still
be a good idea to reduce your exposure to dust. Invisible tiny
particles are constantly swirling around in the air we breathe.
And as reporter Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports, depending on what's
in those particles, they may be affecting our health. GRETCHEN
CUDA KROEN, BYLINE: Take a deep breath. (SOUNDBITE OF
INHALATION) KROEN: Chances are you just inhaled millions of dust
particles. The average person breathes in around 50 billion dust
particles an hour. And the tiniest particles make their way deep
into our lungs, where they can get into the bloodstream and
trigger allergies, asthmas, and possibly other diseases. James
Coe is a chemist who studies the composition of individual dust
particles at Ohio State University. JAMES COE: Pretty much all
the material in our universe was dust at one point. KROEN: Most
researchers study big globs of dust and look for harmful
chemicals. But they don't