Cheap electronic goods can kill you

A Pakistani diplomat, using a defective hair dryer, suffered a fatal electric shock recently. The incident has electronics’ experts once again cautioning the public about the flood of cheap electronic goods available. The inexpensive FM radio assembled on the King Koti footpaths may cause hearing loss, the cut-price cell-phone bought from Abid’s roadside vendors could explode and many innocuous looking ‘everyday’ items might come with hidden health hazards, warn experts.
Cheap MP3, I-pod style players and ear-buds can create sound levels of up to nine decibels within the ear. Dr Praveen Sirdesai an ENT surgeon says, “Quality of sound depends on the quality of the instrument. Sound quality will be better in branded and certified companies. The cheap ear bud head-phones or music players produce loud music with disturbance. Listening to them results in high frequency sensory neural loss.”
Law forbids the manufacture of electronic goods without a license but, ‘assembled’ computers, geysers, dryers and air-conditioners circumvent the rules: unlicensed manufacturing units, producing ‘fakes’ have mushroomed in industrial areas like Katedan.
Rameshwar Rao, senior professor of Electronics, Osmania University, says, “Cheap electronic goods are manufactured without the proper specifications laid down by regulatory bodies. For instance no one can make a receiver or FM radio without a government license. The assembled FM radios sold on streets are faulty.”
Yet, cheap price tags, attractive schemes seem irresistible to consumers who continue to use the product even when it shows signs of trouble. City police recount several reports of phone battery explosions including the death of a man whose Chinese cell-phone exploded while it was being charged.
Rameshwar Rao says, “When the specified temperature limits are exceeded, certain chemicals and energy reactions in cheap batteries cause explosions. Recently, a legitimate cell-phone brand had to withdraw a series of a certain model after they began to explode as well.” He believes regulatory bodies should ensure that manufacturers follow specifications stringently, “For now, the accident rate due to electronic goods usage is low but the government has to step in before mishaps increase.”
It’s not only electronics that ought to come with a warning. The ubiquitous plastic boxes and bottles are also a health hazard, doctors say. Dr M. Vijay Kumar Reddy reveals, “Studies show that plastic bottles contain traces of Bisphenol, a synthetic chemical, that interferes with the body’s natural hormonal messaging system.” Teflon, the compound that revolutionised cookware and tom-tommed a ‘healthier, oil-free’ way of cooking is also under scrutiny, he says, “Studies suggest that Teflon coated cookware quickly reaches temperatures that produce toxic particles and fumes. Humans may suffer polymer fume fever. Studies also suggest it may affect the reproductive systems as well.”
Experts now recommend that all the cookware and heated appliances bearing polytetraflouroethyline non-stick coatings including Teflon coatings carry a label warning of health risks.