MICROWAVE THERMAL PACKS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR 15 YEARS OR SO.
They provide heat and the health benefits of heat without the
fiddle of hotwater bottles or the hazard of handling boiling
water to fill bottles.
Are they safe? Firstly we should say that
conventional hot water bottles cause a significant number of
serious scalds. In the last published HASS figures approx 1500
hot water bottle scalds were referred to A and E in the
reporting year. Hot water bottles have been the subject of a
number of product recalls for faulty stoppers or substandard
construction.
Gel and wax containing products can reach very high
temperatures and may explode or combust. In 1999 after
several serious incidents a woman was killed in the North East
when her gel pack exploded and in effect napalmed her with hot
sticky gel. Gel products have as a result been largely withdrawn
from the UK market. Some gel cold packs can still be found which
say they can also be heated in the microwave. This should never
be done.
Many
products have been introduced with wheat, seeds, peat, fruit
stones, lavender and other natural products. These are natural
products and vary in their water content. With use they dry out,
even if a glass of water is placed in the microwave. When they
dry out, the time to heat up in the same power microwave greatly
reduces. If they overheat and reach a high temperature, they can
start to cook and continue to heat up further even after they
have been removed from the microwave. This heating can lead to
spontaneous combustion. Earlier this year a woman was burnt to
death when her lavender wheat bag set alight in her bed. The
fire brigade reported that they had been called out to at least
six serious house fires caused by igniting wheat bags. Great
care must be taken with these products.
Hotties are different. They contain a fixed
mass of water absorbed onto a nonwoven pad and sealed under
vacuum in a specially engineered laminate pouch. This means that
the rate of heat up is mathematically predictable. If the
product is overheated it will expand and burst. Remember, steam
fills 22.4 times the space of water. This prevents dangerous
temperatures and pressures being reached and is a visual
indicator that overheating has occurred. The nonwoven pad is
capable of holding much more water than is put in the Hottie, so
even after it has burst, the water does not rush out. Most of
the water remains in the pouch. These safety features were built
into Hotties from the beginning. That is why in 11years and 1.5
million Hotties, nobody has been seriously scalded.
the Hottie...The World's first microwave hot
water bottle. No filling required. Saves money
and safe for those who maybe unable to fill a
traditional hot water bottle.
