{{Short description|Unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin or possessions}} {{Redirect|Dirty|other uses|Dirt (disambiguation)|and|Dirty (disambiguation)}} {{pp-semi-indef}} [[File:King's Cross, London; the Great Dust-Heap, next to Battle Br Wellcome V0013642.jpg|thumb|The great dust heap of London at Battle Bridge in 1836, next to the Smallpox Hospital]] [[File:Dirty Dick's - geograph.org.uk - 821364.jpg|thumb|right|Dirty Dicks is a Bishopsgate pub named after Dirty Dick, who once owned it and was notoriously filthy.]] [[File:Sure We Can Earthday clean 2021 1.jpg|thumb|Dirt-covered sidewalk in Brooklyn, NYC being swept during a community clean-up]] '''Dirt ''' is any matter considered unclean, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become '''dirty'''. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Dust: a general powder of organic or mineral matter * Filth: foul matter such as excrement * Grime: a black, ingrained dust such as soot * Soil: the mix of clay, sand, and humus which lies on top of bedrock. The term 'soil' may be used to refer to unwanted substances or dirt that are deposited onto surfaces such as clothing.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Arno Cahn |title=5th World Conference on Detergents|url={{Google Books |VMqSJROG_WYC|page=154|plain-url=yes}}|date=2003|isbn=9781893997400|page=154 |publisher=The American Oil Chemists Society |via=Google Books}}</ref>
==Etymology== The word ''dirt'' first appears in Middle English and was probably borrowed from the Old Norse {{lang|non|drit}}, meaning {{gloss|excrement}}.<ref>{{Cite OED|dirt, n.|1353882326}}</ref>
==Exhibitions and studies== A season of artworks and exhibits on the theme of dirt was sponsored by the Wellcome Trust in 2011. The centrepiece was an exhibition at the Wellcome Collection showing pictures and histories of notable dirt such as the great dust heaps at Euston and King's Cross in the 19th century and the Fresh Kills landfill which was once the world's largest landfill.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/8390859/Dirt-the-Filthy-Reality-of-Everyday-Life-Welcome-Collection.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324141640/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/8390859/Dirt-the-Filthy-Reality-of-Everyday-Life-Welcome-Collection.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 March 2011 |title=Dirt: the Filthy Reality of Everyday Life, Welcome Collection |date=23 March 2011 |journal=The Daily Telegraph |author=Brian Dillon}}</ref>
==Cleaning== When things are dirty, they are usually cleaned with solutions like hard surface cleaner and other chemical solutions; much domestic activity is for this purpose—washing, sweeping, and so forth.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSEDkuksOI8C |title=Dirt: The Quirks, Habits, and Passions of Keeping House |author=Mindy Lewis |isbn= 9781580052610 |year=2009|publisher=Basic Books }}</ref>
In a commercial setting, a dirty appearance gives a bad impression. An example of such a place is a restaurant. The dirt in such cases may be classified as temporary, permanent, and deliberate. Temporary dirt is streaks and detritus that may be removed by ordinary daily cleaning. Permanent dirt is ingrained stains or physical damage to an object, which requires major renovation to remove. Deliberate dirt is that which results from design decisions such as decor in dirty orange or grunge styling.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WuPh5C9QpQC&pg=PA115 |year=2003 |title=Expectations and the Food Industry |isbn=9780306477096 |author=John B. Hutchings|publisher=Springer }}</ref>
==Disposal== As cities developed, arrangements were made for the disposal of trash through the use of waste management services. In the United Kingdom, the Public Health Act 1875 required households to place their refuse into a container that could be moved so that it could be carted away. This was the first legal creation of the dustbin.<ref>{{citation |title=Encyclopaedia of Environmental Pollution and Awareness in the 21st Century |author=V.K. Prabhakar |page=10 |isbn=9788126106516 |year=2000 |publisher=Anmol Publications }}</ref>
==Health== Modern society is now thought to be more hygienic. Lack of contact with microorganisms in dirt when growing up is hypothesised to be the cause of the epidemic of allergies such as asthma.<ref>{{citation |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8373690.stm |title=Dirt can be good for children, say scientists |publisher=BBC |date=23 November 2009}}</ref> The human immune system requires activation and exercise in order to function properly and exposure to dirt may achieve this.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4qRXShukoYC |title=Why Dirt Is Good: 5 Ways to Make Germs Your Friends |author=Mary Ruebush |isbn=9781427798046 |year=2009|publisher=Kaplan Pub. }}</ref> For example, the presence of staphylococcus bacteria on the surface of the skin regulates the inflammation which results from injury.<ref>{{citation |last1=Lai |journal=Nature Medicine |first1=Y |last2=Di Nardo |first2=A |last3=Nakatsuji |first3=T |last4=Leichtle |first4=A |last5=Yang |first5=Y |last6=Cogen |first6=AL |last7=Wu |first7=ZR |last8=Hooper |first8=LV |last9=Schmidt |first9=RR |title=Commensal bacteria regulate Toll-like receptor 3–dependent inflammation after skin injury |volume=15 |issue=12 |pages=1377–82 |date=22 November 2009 |pmid=19966777 |pmc=2880863 |doi=10.1038/nm.2062 |bibcode=2009NatMe..15.1377L }}</ref>
Even when no visible dirt is present, contamination by microorganisms, especially pathogens, can still cause an object or location to be considered dirty. For example, computer keyboards are especially dirty as they contain on average 70 times more microbes than a lavatory seat.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15108662 |publisher=The Economist |title=The joy of dirt |date=17 December 2009}}</ref>
People and animals may eat dirt. This is thought to be caused by mineral deficiency{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} and so the condition is commonly seen in pregnant women.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=López|first1=LB|last2=Ortega Soler |first2=CR |last3=de Portela |first3=ML|title=Pica during pregnancy: a frequently underestimated problem|journal=Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutricion|date=March 2004|volume=54|issue=1|pages=17–24|pmid=15332352}}</ref>
==Neurosis== People may become obsessed by dirt and engage in fantasies and compulsive behaviour about it, such as making and consuming mud pies and pastries.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=paq.006.0388a |title=The Fantasy of Dirt |author=Lawrence S. Kubie |author-link=Lawrence Kubie |journal=The Psychoanalytic Quarterly |volume=6 |pages=388–425}}</ref> The source of such thinking may be genetic, as the emotion of disgust is common and the location for this activity in the brain has been proposed.<ref>{{citation |volume=44 |issue=1 |year=2001 |pmid=11253302|doi=10.1353/pbm.2001.0001 |author=Valerie Curtis, Adam Biran |title=Dirt, Disgust, and Disease: Is Hygiene in Our Genes?|journal=Perspectives in Biology and Medicine |pages=17–31|citeseerx=10.1.1.324.760|s2cid=15675303 }}</ref>
==See also== * Cleaner
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{citation |title=Dirt: a social history as seen through the uses and abuses of dirt |author=Terence McLaughlin |publisher=Stein and Day |year=1971 |isbn=9780812814125}} * {{citation |title=Chasing Dirt: The American Pursuit of Cleanliness |author=Suellen Hoy |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |isbn=9780195111286}} * {{citation |title=Dirt: filth and decay in a new world arcadia |author=Pamela Janet Wood |publisher=Auckland University Press |year=2005 |isbn=9781869403485}} * {{citation |title=Dirt: new geographies of cleanliness and contamination |author=Ben Campkin, Rosie Cox |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2007 |isbn=9781845116729}} * {{citation |title=Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life |author=Virginia Smith |publisher=Profile Books Limited |year=2011 |isbn=9781846684791|display-authors=etal}}
==External links== {{wiktionary|squalid|squalor}} *{{Commons category-inline}} *[http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/dirt-season.aspx Dirt season at the Wellcome Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311223903/http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/dirt-season.aspx |date=2011-03-11 }}
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Category:Hygiene Category:Waste