The Problem

1. Pay Attention to Books' Deadly DustRelationship of Lung Cancer and Heart Attack to Library Books' DustByHassan BolourchiChemical Engineer, Ph. D.Library Dust Consulting, LLCBirmingham, Michigan, USAwww.library-dust.com

2. The Problem • Observation: • common abnormal illnesses among librarians • Lung cancer • Heart attack • skin problems • Respiratory allergy problem • Facts: Most cases belongs to people with no other risks • Is dust the cause of these problems? • it seems closer people are to the sources of dust more problems they have.

3. Discovery • The phenomena of falling down of snow flacks on glass surfaces. • Analogy between this phenomena and attraction of dust particles on paper surfaces. • The paper surfaces like glass surfaces are made of polar molecules. • The dust particles like snow are polar. • The paper surfaces act as dust magnets and attract and hold the dust particles. • When you open a book an air current is created which pushes up the dust directly to your nose.

4. Literature reviewThe source of dust • Combustion processes • The heavy metals like lead, mercury and chromium released by metallurgic industries and others • Highly carcinogen chemicals produced by different industrial plants like arsenic, benzene, dioxin and asbestos. • Pesticides and herbicides • Nuclear plant, Radon gas. • The dust particulate matter, is a catalog of all kind of chemicals used in our modern style of life.

5. How Does Dust Affect the Body? • The dust particles begin their attack in the eyes and on the skin by making irritation and allergy problems. • Some chemicals can enter in the blood stream directly via exposure to the skin. • High concentration of dust, specially tarry or sticky particles can create skin problems. • Particles with diameter under 10 microns (PM10), pass body`s filters, enter deeply in the lungs and lodge in their branches. • 90% of particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) which are deposited in deeper lung airways may be cleared from the body within one year in healthy non smokers. • These fine dust particles (PM2.5), have greatest potential for damaging health. • Dust protection masks, generally used by people, cannot remove these fine particles. Only HEPA filter is efficient.

6. Outdoor Air Pollution • Fine particles (less than 10 microns) can travel in the air by wind and some natural phenomena over several hundred miles and remain in the air for several years. • A new study by New York University (NYU), School of Medicine at Brigham Young University, which is done over a 16 years period and for 500,000 adult show that long term exposure to fine particles is an important risk factor for lung cancer deaths and heart disease mortality. • This study, found that the risk is equal to nonsmokers with long term exposure to second hand smoke. • More than 800 new scientific studies confirm the relationship of dust particles in air with illnesses, hospitalizations, and premature deaths. • Researchers calculated that the number of deaths from lung cancer increase by eight percent for every additional 10 micrograms of fine dust particles (PM2.5) found in a cubic meter of air

7. Indoor Air Pollution • The level of indoor air pollutants may be two to five times greater than outdoor level This is because: • Most filters used in air conditioner devices are unable to trap fine particles. • And use of efficient insulation without sufficient ventilation accumulates dust particles inside buildings

8. The case of libraries • Facts: • 1- Attraction and accumulation of dust on paper side of books. • 2- Dust transferring to respiratory organs. When you open a book an air current is created which pushes up the dust directly to your nose. This kind of dust transfer to our body is unique in the case of books. • The only case that may be comparable is active smoking where one blows harmful matters by himself inside body. • When you read a dusty book, you are exposed to dust particles as long as you continue to read the book.

9. Hypothesis • Facts: • Observations • Mechanisms of dust accumulation and how it transfer to our respiratory organs. • Literature about health risk in similar environmental • Conclusion • There is a relationship between long exposure to books dust and lung cancer and heart attack,

10. What is the solution? • The best way to eliminate the risk is to eliminate the source of risk by cleaning the dusty books regularly. • Static air filters in the air conditioning conduits. • Movable air cleaners (HEPA filter) • Further research is necessary to develop new kinds of machines to circulate air inside libraries with new technology.

11. Conclusion • we come to this hypothesis that there is link between long term exposure to books dust and illnesses like lung cancer, heart attack, allergy asthma, skin problems. • The librarians should be considered as workers at high risk ( like the case of asbestoses) and protected by law. The existing standards are not enough to protect the librarians and new studies should be done to create new standards. • The public libraries should take responsibility to clean up dusty books. • This work could be considered as the first scientific hypothesis on this subject. We hope this work be further developed by immunologists and other health specialists. Meanwhile we strongly believe that action should be taken to protect people at risks. • Further information: www.library-dust.com