Thursday, February 26, 2009

Oreck's new radioactive vacuum cleaner

The Oreck Halo uses ultraviolet radiation to kill microbes in your carpet. I think it's a neat idea, but there are a couple things I want to point out.
1. UV radiation causes cancer. You wouldn't be exposed to it while vacuuming, but don't let your kids play around with it.
2. UV radiation can cause your carpet to fade. It depends on the carpet and duration of exposure.
3. I'm not paying $599.95 for a vacuum. It would be cheaper just to retrofit my old vacuum.

2 comments:

  1. Bob:
    I agree with the price tag...!
    And UV WILL fade everything it touches (bad idea Mr. Oreck).

    AS to the cancer thing...well, in sufficinet amounts it will promote cancer-producing cells, but I would HOPE that the UV given off by the cleaner is so small (like radium on the oldtime glow-in-the-dark watch hands) so as to be a non sequitor.

    Still, if you buy ENOUGH of those vacuums and set them up just right, you could get a nice tan...!
    And some real CLEAN, faded carpets!

    ...NAH!

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  2. Since the UV is directed downward and is absorbed by they carpet, you wouldn't be exposed to it during normal use.

    The radium was mostly a problem in the workers who painted the watch dials. They did things like put the brushes in their mouths and paint their own teeth.

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