Sometimes ago, the news was all over the
place: social media, mass media, emails, text messages and every other
imaginable places about an health alert reportedly emanating from the United States
about the danger of contacting skin cancers from scratching recharge cards with
your nails.
Below is a sample of the warning:
“ATTENTION. Medical Research Authority of
the US have found new cancers in human being caused by ‘Silver Nitro Oxide’.
Whenever you buy recharge cards or calling cards, don’t scratch them with your
nails as it contain ‘Silver Nitro Oxide’ coating and can cause skin cancer.
Copy and paste this message and spread awareness please”
A careful analysis of the message however
revealed the following fundamental flaws:
- · There is no scientific evidence for any chemical called ‘Silver Nitro Oxide’. There are two chemical compounds with similar names: Nitrous oxide (Laughing gas) and Nitric oxide (a diataomic gas that plays a role as a cell signalling molecule in mammals) neither of which is used as coating for scratch cards or causes any form of skin cancer.
- · The coating of recharge cards are made from specialized latex or Ultraviolet (UV) inks. UV inks are a mixture of coloured monomers, oligomers and photo-initiators which become active on exposure to UV light to form a solid plastic polymer.
- · Latex which are used in making this coatings are also used in making more than 40,000 everyday products including mattresses, gloves, condoms, swim caps and balloons all of which have no known link with cancer.
- · The organisation mentioned in the alert, “Medical Research Authority of the US” does not exist in the United States or anywhere in the world. The closest one can find, from search engine suggestions is the US-based Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) whose website does not have any information supporting this claims.
The about stated facts thus clearly
confirms that, this is another internet hoax.
However, there are still reasons to
exercise caution when scratching recharge card coatings with your fingers. The
reasons are not farfetched:
- · There have been reports of allergy to latex and this has been well documented in medical circles.
- · The causes of cancers are yet to be fully elucidated and there might just be an element of fact in this alert after all, I guess you don’t want to be a “guinea pig” in finding the link between recharge card coatings and skin cancer.You should therefore minimize your contact with the coating as much as possible if you can.
Below are 5 (five) methods that help you
achieve this:
- · Use a coin – the edge of a coin works just fine
- · Use a car key or any other suitable key – you must be a bit careful with this as there is a risk of over-scratching and you losing the digits that may be hard to guess.
- · Sand – pour a small quantity of fine sand on the coating and rub gently.
- · Chalk – you read that right, chalk! The one used in classrooms. Get a piece of chalk; rub it on the coating just like you are erasing pencil marks with eraser. It works!
- · Your nails – we have just shown that this is an internet hoax anyway. However, if you are allergic to latex you should consider using the other methods.
Staying healthy is a healthy venture, so
you should consider taking notes of these tips too.
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