|
This month, did you know science is going to focus on one specific
area, belly button lint (BBL). The subject of BBL came to my attention
when I discovered an Australian website where a radio DJ and scientist
called Dr Karl had recorded his research into the subject. BBL is a
fascinating subject even if you didn't think you were interested so
read on, you might find out something pretty cool.
The research into BBL started because of the number of people who wanted
to know what, where, who, why and when of their fluff. There were so
many questions and very few answers so Dr Karl started up a survey.
The results seem somewhat conclusive, 4799 people answered the survey,
58.1% were male and 41.9% female. Only 66% had BBL:
- The older you get the more lint you have
- More men than women get lint
- The colour reflects your skin tone; fair people have light lint,
and dark people have darker lint.
- BBL is linked to hairiness, if you have too much or too little belly
hair the fluff can't make its way into the belly button.
- The presence of a navel ring seems to stop lint collecting
These were the most frequently noted results and a number of people
also wrote in with their own theory about how these came about.
It is suggested that all abdominal hair on the body leads towards the
belly button and this acts as a kind of trail for fluff with the collection
point in the actual navel. Since women are less hairy than men this
would explain more men having BBL. And the bigger the belly the more
lint because the navel is deeper and holds on to the lint better.
There were a number of comments about colour of lint, many people experience
blue lint while others insist the colour of the lint relates to the
clothes you are wearing. The presence of blue lint in most people could
be because most people wear blue clothes, even black clothing is actually
dyed very, very dark blue. If you wear lots of different colours then
the lint collected is a kind of blue grey rather like the stuff you
find in your clothes dryer. However some people always seem to get fluff
a different colour than their clothes.
Another theory is that lint can also make its way up from your undies
to your navel not just downwards from your t-shirt.
Innie belly buttons definitely collect more fluff than outies although
some people with outies claimed that they did collect lint next to their
navel.
Many people reported that they only had BBL until they got their belly
button ring and have had no lint since. Some say the reason for this
could be that the ring disrupts the normal pathway to the belly button
and the fluff cannot find its way in.
All mammals have belly buttons but in cats and dogs they can be difficult
to spot because they are far better healed than ours and are covered
in hair. One or two owners revealed that their pet had BBL.
As part of the survey, listeners to Dr Karl's show were encouraged to
removed the hairs from around the belly button to see if this made a
difference in quantities of lint. 40% of people said there was a reduction,
24% they had no noticeable reduction and a mysterious 35% said they
didn't know. The results would however suggest that removing hair decreases
lint and therefore the hair is most likely guiding the lint into the
Navel.
 Graham
Barker BBL Collector
Graham Barker has what is considered the world's largest lint collection.
He has faithfully collected his BBL since January 17th 1984 and now
has three bottles of the stuff. The average weight of lint collected
per year is 1.1 grams.
Grahams efforts have paid off and in November 2000, Guinness World
Records recognised his BBL collection as the worlds largest. The strange
thing about Graham's BBL is that it is always red despite never wearing
red clothing. Also no matter what he is wearing, how tight or loose
it is or how long his belly is covered each day, the amount of lint
stays the same.
|
