Burst hotties prove a hot safety issue

By ANGELA GREGORY

If you are snuggling up with a hot water bottle to keep warm this evening, take care.

So many people have been seriously scalded by burst hotties this winter that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is launching an investigation into their safety.

John Barker, measurement and product safety service manager, said the ministry had received 10 complaints from Dunedin to Auckland about hot water bottles that had split open.

In some cases the users had wrongly used boiling water in the rubber bottles, but in other cases the hotties had failed with hot water below boiling point.

Mr Barker said a common problem appeared to occur when the hot water bottle necks were not made of pure rubber but instead used a compound where the stopper went in.

The rubber was also stretched quite thin over the neck area, which could make it more prone to tearing, he said.

The accidents had all involved hot water bottles bought within the past 12 months, Mr Barker said. It was not clear where they were made but they had all carried the British safety standard mark.

"We might have to write to the British and suggest they investigate."

Mr Barker said the ministry was trying to get more information from consumers about any problems they had with hot water bottles and might consider recalling some brands.

It would not be easy, as many hot water bottles were not clearly branded or could differ in strength depending on how they were made.

Auckland schoolteacher Christine Short said she was scalded all down her legs after a hot water bottle she put in her sleeping bag split open.

Mrs Short admitted she had used boiling water but said there was nothing on the hot water bottle warning her not to.

She had always used boiling water in the past without incident.

"If you just use hot water the heat doesn't last."

Mrs Short said she was surprised to see how thin the rubber was around the neck of the broken hottie and noted the new bottles lacked the steel ring of the old styles.

The accident meant she had to take three weeks off work, with daily visits from a district health nurse.

Mrs Short said she had now switched to wheat bags, "but it's not the same", and she yearned for the quality hot water bottles of her mother's and grandmother's days.

"They would have the same hot water bottle for years."

She had clipped a magazine article about serious burns to the feet of a Nelson teenager this year from a broken hot water bottle which looked identical to hers.

"I rang her ... she got it from a chemist too."

In Dunedin 22-year-old Katie McDowell was also badly scalded on her legs after she sat down with a hot water bottle on her lap.

She had also used boiling water as "it's not hot enough from a tap" and the neck broke when she hugged the hot water bottle to her.

* The ministry's toll-free number 0508-627-774.