EYELASH MITES
Demodex folliculorum, or the demodicid, is a tiny mite, less than
0.4 mm long, that lives in your pores and hair follicles, usually
on your nose, forehead, cheek, and chin, and often in the roots of
your eyelashes. Demodicids have a wormlike appearance, with legs
that are mere stumps. That's a picture of one on the left.
People with oily skin, or those who use cosmetics heavily and don't
wash thoroughly, have the heaviest infestations ... but most adults
carry a few demodicids and their eggs. Inflammation and infection
often result when large numbers of these mites congregate in a
single follicle.
DUST BUNNIES
Those great big dust bunnies under your bed, and behind that shelf
in the hall, are unavoidable. Strangely enough, there's very little
actual dust in a dust bunny. Mostly they're made up of human and
pet hair, and dead skin particles. You're always losing hairs and
skin particles, as old ones slough off and new ones grow. The old
ones have to go somewhere. They end up in dust bunnies.
IMPURITIES IN FOOD
That jar of peanut butter or other product you just opened may look
good, and may even be described as 100% pure. But it's not. It's
only as pure as it needs to be to be certified safe to eat. Peanut
butter, for example, is allowed to have up to two partial rodent
hairs or insect parts per large jar, because they are undetectable
by you, and almost impossible to remove.
And harmless, of course.
In general, the less processing that has been done to the food you
eat, the more bits of insects and other creatures you are likely
also ingesting. Vegetables, fruit, peanuts, meat, and similar foods
all contain tiny bits of dead insect, or larva, or eggs, or other
organic impurities. These are deemed safe to eat because the
quantities are so small as to be undetectable, and they are not
harmful.
