Pink dust in house...

L1FE

Senior member
Dec 23, 2003
545
0
71
When cleaning, we've been noticing that all the dust in the house is tinted pink/red. From the googles, I believe it might have to do with our insulation. Was wondering if anyone else has encountered this and what, if anything, needs to be done. Anyone know if any serious health issues can occur from this?
 

F1N3ST

Diamond Member
Nov 9, 2006
3,802
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76
Any dust causes respiratory issues, so I assume pink dust is that much worse if it's in the air, if stagnant, probably not so much.
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
126
It's just the Pink Panther in your attic emptying his shaver. You may have to go up there and have a talk with him. Bring your stapler and batts. ;)
 

Miramonti

Lifer
Aug 26, 2000
28,651
100
91
Pink would probably mean fiberglass (if there is no outside activities or environmental factors around you that can bring in pink dust), which can break down in the lungs such that the lungs can remove it, and isn't like asbestos which doesn't break down and can cause serious health concerns.

I wouldn't take any chances tho and would check the duct work for holes that need repairing.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
That can't be a good sign how the hell do you have pink dust? IF it's fiberglass, that is not good. The stuff should not be inhaled. It is after all little pieces of glass. People who work with it wear masks if they know what they're doing. Really I cannot imagine how you'd have fiberglass flying around your home, though.
 

Tsavo

Platinum Member
Sep 29, 2009
2,645
37
91
I dropped one of them little cups filled with red powdered drink mix.

Nice huge RED cloud that coated everything.

I was finding red powder on stuff for YEARS.

However, the pink dust in your house is Pixie Dust...you should call an exterminator and have the Pixies gassed out of your home.
 

bctbct

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2005
4,868
1
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I have never seen or heard of fiberglass doing this, look for another source.
 

StinkyPinky

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2002
6,946
1,249
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A friend of mine asked me about this once. I went to his house the next day to take a look and found his corpse.

With a cob of corn rammed up his ass.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,071
9,481
126
Mold? I wouldn't expect fibreglass to spread through the house unless you had a serious HVAC problem.
 

boomerang

Lifer
Jun 19, 2000
18,883
641
126
Mold? I wouldn't expect fibreglass to spread through the house unless you had a serious HVAC problem.
That was my first guess but a cursory search turned up nothing. For whatever that's worth. We had a minor mold problem with the lawn this year. If you plucked some grass the mold was pink and clumped around the base of the plants.

So there is such a thing as pink mold it appears.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,071
9,481
126
That was my first guess but a cursory search turned up nothing. For whatever that's worth. We had a minor mold problem with the lawn this year. If you plucked some grass the mold was pink and clumped around the base of the plants.

So there is such a thing as pink mold it appears.

Yea, I've definitely heard of pink mold, but I didn't think it was something that spread through the air like that. I've always seen it clumped up, on wet rotted stuff.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,698
13,328
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www.betteroff.ca
Is it in any particular areas of the house? Like light fixtures maybe? Light fixtures is the only spot I can think of where there could be a potential attic air leak of the vapor barrier is not installed correctly.

Some houses have hvac in the attic, if that's the case for you then I'd check to see if insulation dust is getting sucked into a duct somehow.

I did the mistake of going up in my attic without a mask once to do some work. I came out of there at lightning speed gasping for air and coughing a lot - I am guessing the coughing is the body making sure the dust does not go in my lungs. That stuff can be bad!
 

bctbct

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2005
4,868
1
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That was my first guess but a cursory search turned up nothing. For whatever that's worth. We had a minor mold problem with the lawn this year. If you plucked some grass the mold was pink and clumped around the base of the plants.

So there is such a thing as pink mold it appears.

So, you started this thread knowing you had pink mold and place undue blame on the fiberglass?

You bastard!

edit...thought you were OP

carry on folks, dont mind the idiot(me :) )
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
43
91
This may sound stupid but do you have a microscope lying around somewhere? Even a toy one. Take a look at the "dust" under it if you have one and let us know what it looks like. Fiberglass would look like little fibres not dust like.
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
If you have insulation hanging near a vent intake on your furnace or AC, this could happen. Happens a lot in new construction homes.