I've just treated my mattress with a good beating on the balcony, to un-dust it. Afterwards I felt like I had smoked a whole package of cigs.

Question: Are those dust particles so small that they will stay in my pulmonary alveoli and therefore are hazardous?

(I know about mattresses for allergics and don't think I need one. Just curious.)

you are not getting dust as much as your are getting dust mite poop as well as the dry skin that flops off while you are sleeping...It's not the mite itself that is the problem. It's the protein in their fecal matter that causes the trouble.

Dust mites survive by eating dead skin cells, which make up to 80% of house dust. They also live off water vapor, which we provide for them through perspiring and breathing, approximately one pint per person per night. Research shows that during one nights sleep most people toss and turn up to 60 or 70 times meaning the dust mite droppings are frequently expelled into the air from bedding. Researchers have also discovered that the allergens can then stay in the air for up to 2 hours. Once airborne, dried dust mite droppings are easily inhaled into our airways thus causing allergic reactions in asthmatics. These allergens can cause wheezing, coughs, itchy eyes, sniffles and, in more serious cases, asthma, eczema, and allergic rhinitis.

i woule think it would be a good idea to wear a mask when you clean your mattress or use a hepafilter vacuum cleaner. U can buy Fabree Allergen for your mattress, just spray it and it kills up to 75 percent.

U can clean your lungs with vitamin C, celery,carrots,apples. No, the lungs bacilii always try and get rid of any foreign matter in the lungs, even while you sleep, they'll always move what's not wanted up and out.