Mar 18, 2008 1:52 pm US/Eastern
Germ Fighters Put To The Test
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
This year's deadly flu season has made many of us even more vigilant about fighting germs, and there are many products on the market which promise to protect you.
Tricia Caputo makes sure her family takes vitamins every day and eats right, but still worries about the germs lurking around them. "It's something that is extremely important to me."
So WBZ asked her to try out some gadgets which promise to kill those nasty germs. Those gadgets were then brought to a lab for testing.
The first one claims to work like a magic wand. You scan it over a surface and, voila, germs are gone! It uses UV light to kill bacteria, but does it work?
WBZ asked microbiologist Dr. Philip Tierno of the NYU Medical Center to check it out. He tested the mini-wand on a sample of e-coli in the lab. He found it had a very minor effect -- or poor kill rate -- on the bacteria. "The bottom line is killing germs with a wand or any UV source depends on the doses of the UV light, the distance of the UV light from the area you want to de-germ…the amount of time you want to apply, because you need a certain amount of time for it to be effective."
Many of us also use humidifiers, but the model WBZ tested uses a UV light in its germicidal chamber to kill bacteria, mold and spores in the water. "It held a lot of water, so you could actually keep it on for a couple days which was very helpful," said Caputo.
Our expert says the UV light, in this case, is powerful enough to work with the water, where bacteria levels are much lower. "I think it's a good idea to have some capacity in your humidifier to prevent germs from accumulating in a biofilm," said Dr. Tierno.
The mini-vac tested claims to clean up dirt and sanitize the air using nano-silver particles in the holding cup.
Dr. Tierno tested the holding cup after a week of use and found a moderate level of live bacteria -- less than whatmwould be in a traditional sanitizer. He says silver technology is useful, but, "when you accumulate the large mass of material in that chamber you're not mixing most of it with the silver, so you're limited with regards with the efficacy of it."
The manufacturer of the mini UV wand sent information on their own tests of their device, claiming results that showed a 99 percent reduction in the salmonella bacteria they tested.
WBZ tested e-coli samples. The maker of the mini-vac and air sanitizer acknowledged that there may be bacteria found in the machine, depending on when and where it's used, but says the amount of bacteria would be much lower than the traditional mini-vacs.
So how do you decide whether a product is worth it? Tierno says you have to weigh the cost against the products de-germing capacity.
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