Mondo Knows Facts

Earwax cleans lubricates and protects the auditory canal

Cerumen traps dust bacteria and dead skin to preserve ear canal health

Earwax or cerumen is produced by specialised glands in the outer ear canal. Combining sticky lipids, proteins, and dead epithelial cells, cerumen lubricates the ear canal, repels water, and traps dust and microorganisms to prevent ear infections.

Where this comes from

MedlinePlus

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

More facts like this

Tags: ear, earwax, hearing

Earwax cleans lubricates and protects the auditory canal: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?
Cerumen traps dust bacteria and dead skin to preserve ear canal health. The figure is taken from MedlinePlus, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a human body fact?
Yes. It sits on the Human Body shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?
The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.