ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO YOUR HOME?

Dust blows from flowering plants, trees and grasses, sending tiny pollen seeds directly into your nose and eyes. This is allergy seasona time when you and some 50 million other American allergy sufferers stay inside, hoping to avoid an allergic reaction to pollen, for weeks or maybe months at a time. Problem is, sources of your discomfort can be indoors too, causing coughing, sneezing, itchy eyes and more.

- GLENN HANSEN

Pollen, whether from grasses or flowering trees, is the most convenient scapegoat for allergy sufferers whose immune systems react to the airborne dust. But indoor dust with a high presence of dust mites is equally to blame. And it can cause problems for people with asthma too.

In guidelines for those with asthma and allergies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends multiple strategies to reduce allergens, such as using pillow and mattress covers that prevent dust mites from passing through and using high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration vacuum cleaners.

Dust mites-microscopic arthropods can be anywhere and everywhere. With the exception of Antarctica, every continent reports dust mites. And here's the scary part: According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (aafa.org) website, dust mites "feed mainly on the tiny flakes of human skin that people shed each day. These flakes work their way deep into the inner layers of furniture, carpets, bedding and even stuffed toys. An average adult person may shed up to 1.5 grams of skin in a day. This is enough to feed one milon dust mites!"

Beyond simply sharing the creepy truth about dust mites, the AAFA certifies several indoor household items as Asthma and Allergy Friendly. Many product manufacturers make marketing claims about "hypoallergenic" or "allergy-friendly" products, but no federal standard or regulation governs the use of those terms. The Asthma and Allergy Friendly Certification Program is a partnership between the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and Allergy Standards Limited (ASL). Together these groups test products and will certify those they deem can "improve the air quality and health of homes."

A wide range of home products have earned the Asthma and Allergy Friendly certification, including:

■ HANDHELD DUSTERS: Guardsman Dusting Cloths