Plastic Slides Zap Hearing Aids
WARNING: If you or your child have cochlear implants, a hearing aid inserted into the ear, don’t go down any PVC plastic slides until the hearing aid is first TURNED OFF.
Static electricity created by the rubbing of clothing on plastic, i.e., wool and PVC plastic, can be as high as 20,000 volts especially on cool, dry days. Most hearing aids are only made to withstand 8,000 volts.
A static shock won’t destroy the $50,000 implants, but it will require a trip to the audiologist. Doug Miller, an engineer with Cochlear Americas, says that newer implants will be able to withstand more static.
Meanwhile, people with cochlear implants will need to turn off their hearing aids before sliding but not without missing out on part of the experience. Peg Jones, the mainstream coordinator at St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf in Chesterfield, Mo. said:
It’s a completely different experience to go down the slide without the wind and the “whee.”
The Miami Herald, December 20, 2005
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POSTED IN: News and Links about Children's Things
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