Dealing with fine dust, that’s dust particles smaller 500 microns, 500 millionths of a meter, will often require the deployment of a fine dust filter. Dust can be generated by a wide range of things found in our modern environment from dead skin cells, earth, pollen and a wide range of chemicals. Inhaling or ingesting dust should be avoided and, indeed, our own bodies have some natural defenses against allowing dust to enter our bodies. However, preventing fine dust particles from entering your body often needs some artificial aids such as a fine dust filter system.
Asbestos is a material that was in common use until the late 1970s as an insulating material, both industrially and in domestic properties. Asbestos also has fire retardant properties meaning that it was also widely used in roofing and doors. Unfortunately, the dust from asbestos fibers is known to cause a particularly pernicious form of cancer called mesothelioma. In industrial premises locations of asbestos are known due to the detailed plans that are kept by law. However, in older domestic properties, if you’re not sure what the material is that you’re working on or removing, wearing a fine dust filter mask is recommended incase the material should contain asbestos. Whilst that might seem an extreme reason for wearing a dust filter mask there are actually many DIY/home improvement tasks that you should wear a fine dust filter mask for. For example, many aerosols contain fine dust particles suspended in a liquid, and inhaling them is not to be recommended. Similarly using a grinder to cut stone or even using a timber power saw - can all create dust that you can easily inhale without the protection of a fine dust filter.
Fine dust filters come in two types - dry and wet. A dry dust filter is OK to use with particles around a micron in size. However, if you need protection from fine dust particles smaller than that, at the nano level, then a wet fine dust filter would be recommended - such as the ones you can obtain from Dexwet, who specialize in fine dust filter systems for laser printers.