Take a deep breath, folks. The latest bad news on the why-are-we-so-fat front is harrowing indeed. Studies now show that household dust is making you fat.

This is tragic indeed for the messy among us. You know those dust bunnies hiding under your couch and the fine layer of sneeze-inducing particles on your dining room table? They are all contributing to your pudge factor. On the upside, you can now feel better about not going to the gym.

Duke University researchers have found a link between dust and body fat. As the Daily News reported, the scientists took pre-fat cells from mice and exposed them to house dust. The bad news is that seven out of 11 dust samples caused the cells to prematurely develop into adult fat cells. Even worse? Nine out of 11 dust samples drove the cells to divide, actually creating more pre-fat cells. These cells are the building blocks of body fat.

“What our study demonstrates is that exposure to mixtures of chemicals found in our home can change the metabolic function of our cells,” said researcher Dr. Heather Stapleton.

If you are looking around at the piles of dust-covered clutter you call your home and panicking (maybe that’s just me), the experts offer some advice. They recommend cleaning with water, like using a wet sponge, instead of using a feather duster because if the particles get airborne, you will inhale them and that’s worse than having them hide on your furniture.

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Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, remember that dust is an amalgam of many things. It can comprise many elements including hormone-affecting chemicals called endocrine disruptors. These bad boys can damage reproductive systems, the thyroid, metabolic rates and the heart, as well as cause cancer.

Now, if you’re a mom, you might want to just skip over this last part because hey, stress is bad for you too. Maybe just grab the vacuum cleaner instead.

Apparently, scientists are calling for urgent research into this disruptor-fueled dust because the level at which the dust impacted the cells is way below the amount kids are exposed to daily, by government estimate. Gulp.

“We were most surprised by how low the concentrations were that we saw having an effect,” said Dr Christopher Kassotis as the Telegraph noted.

Where do these disruptors come from? They are all around you, including many household products such as pesticides, cosmetics, packaging and cleaning fluids. Did we mention plastic? All of that gets into our dust and then into us. Anyone else feel the need to clean?