(Press-News.org) Some vacuum cleaners — those basic tools for maintaining a clean indoor environment in homes and offices — actually contribute to indoor air pollution by releasing into the air bacteria and dust that can spread infections and trigger allergies, researchers report in a new study. It appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Lidia Morawska and colleagues explain that previous studies showed that vacuum cleaners can increase levels of very small dust particles and bacteria in indoor spaces, where people spend about 90 percent of their time. In an effort to provide more information about emission rates of bacteria and small dust particles, the scientists tested 21 vacuum cleaners sold in Australia. The vacuums came from 11 manufacturers, included those marketed for household and commercial use, ranged in age from six months to 22 years and cost from less than $100 to almost $800. They looked at the effects that age, brand and other factors had on the amount of small particles and bacteria released into air.
All of the vacuums released some fine dust and bacteria into the air. Surprisingly, vacuums with so-called High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters in some cases released only slightly lower levels of dust and bacteria. Newer and more expensive vacuum cleaners were generally less polluting than older or less expensive models.
###The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society contact newsroom@acs.org.
Older, cheaper vacuum cleaners release more bacteria and dust
2012-01-05
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
360 Diversity is Backing the Decision to Legalise Same Sex Marriage in Scotland
2012-01-05
360 diversity is encouraged by progress which is being made to the same sex marriage law in Scotland. After much opposition from religious groups, it is on the cards that gay marriage will be legalised in Scotland and in the future in England as well. Currently, same sex couples can only be joined in a civil partnership, which is also the case in England. The decision to change the law is currently being considered by the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Government is being urged to move forward with the change in the law by gay rights campaigners who claim the law ...
Blogging may help teens dealing with social distress
2012-01-05
WASHINGTON – Blogging may have psychological benefits for teens suffering from social anxiety, improving their self-esteem and helping them relate better to their friends, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
"Research has shown that writing a personal diary and other forms of expressive writing are a great way to release emotional distress and just feel better," said the study's lead author, Meyran Boniel-Nissim, PhD, of the University of Haifa, Israel. "Teens are online anyway, so blogging enables free expression and easy communication ...
Dried licorice root fights the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease
2012-01-05
Scientists are reporting identification of two substances in licorice — used extensively in Chinese traditional medicine — that kill the major bacteria responsible for tooth decay and gum disease, the leading causes of tooth loss in children and adults. In a study in ACS' Journal of Natural Products, they say that these substances could have a role in treating and preventing tooth decay and gum disease.
Stefan Gafner and colleagues explain that the dried root of the licorice plant is a common treatment in Chinese traditional medicine, especially as a way to enhance the ...
Antiestrogen therapy may decrease risk for melanoma
2012-01-05
PHILADELPHIA — Women with breast cancer who take antiestrogen supplements may be decreasing their risk for melanoma, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Christine Bouchardy, M.D., Ph.D., professor at the University of Geneva and head of the Geneva Cancer Registry, and colleagues analyzed data from 7,360 women who had breast cancer between 1980 and 2005. About half (54 percent) of these women received antiestrogen therapy.
The researchers followed the patients until 2008 and recorded ...
Mid-lane driving helps older adults stay safe
2012-01-05
It's official: older adults are naturally inclined to drive in the middle of the road, leaving the younger generation to cut corners.
This tendency to sit mid-lane is an in-built safety mechanism that helps pensioners stay safe behind the wheel, according to researchers at the University of Leeds, UK.
The findings of the study, which are published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception and Performance, have shown how older people naturally adapt when they can no longer move with the freedom they once had. Researchers hope that the work will be used ...
Exercise is good for your waistline – But it's a writing exercise
2012-01-05
Is losing weight as simple as doing a 15-minute writing exercise? In a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, women who wrote about their most important values, like close relationships, music, or religion, lost more weight over the next few months than women who did not have that experience.
"We have this need to feel self-integrity," says Christine Logel of Renison University College at the University of Waterloo, who cowrote the new study with Geoffrey L. Cohen of Stanford University. When something threatens ...
Payoneer at the Affiliate Summit West Conference 2012
2012-01-05
The Affiliate Summit West conference will take place in Las Vegas from the 8th to the 10th of January 2012. This is the foremost event for affiliate marketing, and the 2012 summit will be the 19th conference to be held.
Affiliate marketing is a method of marketing whereby an enterprise rewards its affiliates for customers or visitors generated by the affiliate's marketing efforts, and with the ever-increasing Internet trade, this field has grown rapidly since its early days. There are four main players in the affiliate marketing game: the merchant (sometimes called the ...
Use of acupuncture in the US military highlighted in special issue of Medical Acupuncture
2012-01-05
New Rochelle, NY -- The current issue of Medical Acupuncture, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., explores how the U.S. military is incorporating medical acupuncture to assist in the medical care of military personnel serving in the war zones and the efforts underway to explore military applications of acupuncture. The issue is available online at http://www.liebertpub.com/acu.
"The use of acupuncture for helping wounded warriors suffering from pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, and mild traumatic brain injury is growing rapidly," says Richard ...
AsiaRooms.com - Hua Hin International Film Festival 2012 Coming Soon to Thailand
2012-01-05
The National Federation of Thai Film Associations is to organise the Hua Hin International Film Festival 2012 from January 26th to 29th.
Over the course of the four days, more than 50 films are set to be screened from around the world, including Fernando Meirelles' newest Hollywood project 360, as well as the Malaysian hit KL Gangster, the award-winning Filipino movie Ways of the Sea and the lavish Taiwanese production Warriors of the Rainbow.
Korean movie Always will be the opening film, with its stars So Ji Sub and Han Hyu Joo set to be among the many confirmed ...
The cost of disabilities could reach 77.2 percent of household income
2012-01-05
A team of researchers have for the first time estimated the cost and impact of disabilities on the finances of disabled people. According to data, 90% of the population with a serious disability in Spain is in a state of moderate poverty and 56% lives in a state of extreme poverty.
"With a compared and contrasted methodology, our study shows how high the cost of being dependent can be and how much it can contribute to increasing poverty," explains Francisco Javier Braña Pino, researcher at the University of Salamanca (Spain) and author of the recent study that analyses ...