Saunas And More Blog

“WATERSTAR” Infrared Sauna Recall

Saunas And More — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:47:12 +0000

Recall Alert

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Office of Information and Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20207

June 12, 2008
Alert #08-584

Sauna By Airwall Recalls Infra-Red Sauna Rooms Due to Fire Hazard

The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Consumers should stop using the product immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Infra-Red Sauna Rooms

Units: About 225

Distributor: Sauna By Airwall Inc., of Bellflower, Calif.

Manufacturer: Xuzhou Waterstar Electronic Co.

Hazard: The heating unit and fuse can fail, leading to overheating of the saunas. This defect can result in a serious fire hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Sauna By Airwall has received four reports of fires resulting in property damage. There have been no reports of personal injury.

Description: The recalled infra-red sauna rooms are made of wood and include the following model numbers: IC I, IC II, IC III, IC IV, and IC V. The model number is indicated on the serial plate located on the back of the machine, in the lower right hand corner.

IC I (1-Person) Dimensions: 35.5″x41.5″x75″(in)

IC II (2-Person) Dimensions: 47″x47″x75″(in)

IC III (3-Person) Dimensions: 60″x49″x75″(in)

IC IV (4-Person) Dimensions: 69″x53″x75″(in)

IC V (Corner) Dimensions: 59″x23.5″x49×75″(in)

Sold by: Authorized Sauna By Airwall dealers nationwide from November 2006 through April 2008 for between $600 and $4,000.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled product and disconnect from power source, and contact the firm for a refund. All known users have been contacted.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact the firm collect at (562) 630-2283 between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or via e-mail at customersupport@saunabyairwall.com

(FOR MORE INFO AND PICTURES VIEW WEB PAGE:)

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08584.html

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Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $800 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC’s web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

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Carbon Nanotube Risk !

Saunas And More — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:56:31 +0000

Carbon nanotubes may be as hazardous to health as asbestos

·“http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jamesranderson”, science correspondent · “http://www.guardian.co.uk/”, · Tuesday May 20 2008 · Article history

Scientists have warned that carbon nanotubes could pose a cancer risk similar to that of asbestos.

They say the government should restrict the use of the materials, which are included in a variety of consumer products, to protect human health. In most products containing nanotubes, such as car body panels, tennis rackets, yacht masts and bike frames, the fibres are embedded in composite materials, which provide strength and lightness. In this form they are likely to be relatively harmless. But the researchers said further studies were necessary to confirm that — it was not good enough to simply assume that people could not be exposed to carbon nanotubes embedded in materials.

Scientists would have to demonstrate that exposure from products was safe, said Andrew Maynard at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington.

Dr Maynard said the risks were greater during manufacture and at the time products reach the end of their life. “What happens as you demolish products or throw them away in landfill sites? … Is there a chance of carbon nanotubes coming out then and exposure occurring? We simply don’t know the answer to that and I think it is something that needs to be addressed.”

Wonder materialsCarbon nanotubes were developed in 1991 and have proved to be extremely useful materials, conferring great strength while also being very light. They are also superb conductors of heat and electricity and have been touted as wonder materials that could form the basis of a new generation of electronics.

“This is a reason for concern,” said Anthony Seaton, a professor and expert in asbestos-related diseases, working at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh. “Asbestos started in the same way — it had thousands of applications and people used it experimentally. It became very widespread, almost ubiquitous.”

The similarity between the size and structure of carbon nanotubes and asbestos fibres has always placed a question mark over how the former could affect lungs. The new research shows that, in mice, the tubes, like abestos, cause inflammation of the mesothelium, the slippery membrane that surrounds lungs and other bodily organs. With asbestos fibres, the inflammation is a stage leading towards the deadly cancer known as mesothelioma. It typically takes 20 to 50 years for the cancer to develop following exposure to asbestos fibres.

The researchers, who report the development in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, compared the effects of short and long nanotubes. With asbestos, stiff fibres about 10 micrometres in length (100 times smaller than a milimetre) are harmless because immune cells can engulf them and safely remove them. Stiff fibres longer than 15-20 micrometres are too big for the cells to handle and their presence provokes an inflammatory response. The researchers confirmed that carbon nanotubes seemed to have the same effect.

Theoretical risk“Nanotubes behave like asbestos in the sense that long ones are harmful, short ones aren’t, and that exposure to some sorts of carbon nanotubes could carry a risk,” said Ken Donaldson, professor at the University of Edinburgh, and leader of the research. He stressed that the team had not demonstrated that carbon nanotubes actually caused cancer. First, the long nanotubes would need to be airborne in large enough quantities and they would need to be able to cross the lung lining.

The researchers said the government needed to take the threat seriously and prevent people from being exposed. “The health and safety executive in the UK has to take appropriate measures to ensure that people are not being exposed to these things in the air or being exposed to the absolute minimum,” said Seaton. The highest potential risk was to workers involved in the manufacture of carbon nanotubes, he said.

Maynard said that companies using the substance ought to be more transparent about nanotubes, including about how they were being used. “It’s very very hard to work out where they are being used simply because there is no requirement for a manufacturer to actually say how they are using them and where they are using them,” he said.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs runs a voluntary reporting system for companies, but very few have signed up to it.

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Ceramic Heating Infrared Sauna

Saunas And More — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:44:56 +0000

Excerpted from: Michael R. Lyon, MD, The Cline Medical center
Hyperthermic Detoxification Program Using the Far-InfraRed Sauna
Pain Relief and HealingFar-InfraRed energy provides many therapeutic effects.

In addition to sweat detoxification the other most common applications of Far-InfraRed technology have been pain relief and healing. The special ceramic heaters in the sauna emit a very specific and narrow band of infrared wavelengths. These heaters were developed in Japan by Dr. Tadashi Ishikawa in 1965 and their therapeutic benefits have been researched by the Japanese ‘InfraRed Society’, composed of medical doctors and physical therapists. Over 700,000 whole-body treatment units are in operation in the Orient and their popularity is quickly spreading to other parts of the world including North America. Millions of smaller infrared devices are used in the Orient, Europe, Australia and North America for localized therapy providing pain relief and the stimulation or our natural healing mechanisms. Far-InfraRed has been effectively used in the treatment of arthritis, bursitis, fibromyalgia, backache, sprains, strains and many other muscular-skeletal ailments.

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Toxic Canadians (released by Ottawa)

Saunas And More — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:41:01 +0000

Canadians found to be carrying scores of toxic chemicals in their bodies OTTAWA (CP) - The average Canadian has more than hockey in his blood; there are also flame retardants, stain removers, heavy metals, PCBs and volatile organic compounds, says an environmental group. Blood and urine tests of 11 volunteers from Saltspring Island, B.C., to St. John’s, NL, found scores of toxic chemicals suspected of causing everything from cancer to learning disabilities, says a report by Toronto-based Environmental Defence.

On average, each of the volunteers showed blood contamination by more than 40 compounds, as well as urine contamination by a number of pesticides. Environmental Defence says it’s the first nationwide study of blood and urine contamination in Canada, although similar results have been obtained in the United States and Britain. Despite the small sample size of the study the results reflect a national problem, said Sarah Winterton, program director with Environmental Defence, who had her own blood tested for the study. She noted the 11 volunteers came from different parts of the country, different types of communities, different ethnic backgrounds, professions and age categories. “It’s not like we all had dinner together and had blood poisoning the next day,” said Winterton in an interview. “The only thing this group of people had in common was that they live in Canada. “It’s a glimpse of what everybody has in them.” Volunteers included B.C. wildlife artist Robert Bateman, St. John’s filmmaker Mary Sexton, and David Masty, chief of the Whapmagoostui First Nation in northern Quebec. Masty had the highest levels of mercury contamination despite living far from heavy industry. Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence, said the results underline the need for tighter regulation on toxic chemicals under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA).

One of the few bits of good news in the report is that PCB concentrations were much lower in young volunteers, which he attributed to the PCB ban imposed about 10 years ago. The study notes the number of new cases of cancer in Canada has increased 54.4 per cent since the 1980s, while cancer deaths have increased by 43.4 per cent. Although researchers often blame rising cancer incidence on Canada’s aging population, data show incidence has increased among Canadians aged 20 to 44, says the report. “The types of cancer most common among this age group differ from those among older people, which suggests that risk factors other than age may be responsible for certain types of cancer.” Among the study’s recommendations: -Virtual elimination of all releases of carcinogens to the air and water by 2008. -A ban on brominated flame retardants. -Expanding CEPA to cover chemicals used in consumer products, not just those released to the environment. -Requiring industry to prove the safety of its chemicals before they are introduced, rather than testing them for toxicity after they are in use. The blood and urine tests were conducted by Centre de Toxicologie, Institute National de Sante Publique du Quebec and Accu-Chem Laboratories of Richardson, Texas.

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Carbon Nanotube used in Carbon Fiber

Saunas And More — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:30:36 +0000

For all those considering purchasing a carbon fiber sauna, read this article. You may want to reconsider !

Carbon nanotubes the new asbestos?

James Randerson

Can be a cancer risk,say scientists

LONDON: Scientists have warned that carbon nanotubes could pose a cancer risk similar to that of asbestos, saying its use should be restricted to protect human health.

Carbon nanotubes were developed in 1991 and have proved extremely useful, conferring great strength while being very light. They are superb conductors of heat and electricity and have been touted as wonder materials that could form the basis of a new generation of electronics.

In most products containing nanotubes, such as car body panels, tennis rackets, yacht masts and bike frames, the fibres are embedded in composite materials, which provide strength and lightness. In this form the cylindrical molecules of carbon are likely to be relatively harmless.

But researchers said further studies were necessary to confirm it; it cannot be assumed that people could not be exposed to carbon nanotubes held in materials. Scientists will have to show that exposure from products is safe, said Andrew Maynard of the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, Washington. “What happens as you demolish products or throw them away in landfill sites? Is there a chance of carbon nanotubes coming out then and exposure occurring? We simply don’t know the answer to that and that needs to be addressed,” he said. Anthony Seaton, an expert in asbestos-related diseases at the Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh, said: “Asbestos started in the same way — people used it experimentally.” The similarity between the size and structure of carbon nanotubes and asbestos fibres has always posed a question on how the former could affect lungs. The new research shows that, in mice, the tubes, like asbestos, cause inflammation of the mesothelium, the slippery membrane around some bodily organs. With asbestos fibres, the inflammation is a stage leading towards cancer.

The researchers, whose report is in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, compared the effects of short and long nanotubes. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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