Let The Sunshine In For This Scientifically Hygienic Reason

Wondering if you should move your desk near the window? Well, feng shui is about to take on a whole new meaning with new research that suggests sunlight may actually kill harmful bacteria living in your dust.

We know our spaces collect dust. What is less known is that dust carries bacteria and this bacteria could negatively impact respiratory health. What if there was a way to design our spaces so that there was less of it? Researchers from the University of Oregon may have insight on what you should be doing with your indoor spaces.

The study monitored eleven identical rooms, the only variable was the amount of light exposure. After 90 days, the researchers found that in dark rooms, 12 percent of the bacteria was alive and able to reproduce compared to rooms exposed to sunlight where 6.8 percent of bacteria was alive and able to be multiple.

What's the risk? Well the composition of dust in the dark spaces contained microbes associated with respiratory infections and the spaces exposed to more light had less of these microbes. Essentially, spaces with natural sunlight kill more bacteria. If your spaces are less than light. It's time to listen up for your respiratory health.

Humans spend a significant time indoors and some of this time is inevitable. There are some changes you can make in your home to purify your air even if you can't let in more light. mbg recommends cleaning your stuff that collects dust—curtains, bedding, mattresses, furniture, carpets. This way you can decrease irritants that can lead to allergic reactions and common annoyances like runny noses or sneezing.