TRUE: INFRARED THERMOMETERS ARE SAFE AND DON’T DAMAGE THE PINEAL GLAND
Rodgers Odhiambo and Celine Abuga
29/08/2020
TRUE: INFRARED THERMOMETERS ARE SAFE AND DON’T DAMAGE THE PINEAL GLAND
A worrying message widely shared on Facebook warns that infrared thermometers may be “causing potential health issues by aiming an infrared ray to the pineal gland”.
The message says the thermometers, commonly used to measure temperature when screening forCovid-19, “target the pineal gland, which is located directly in the centre of the forehead, with an infrared ray”. The claim has also appeared on YouTube and on blogs promoting anti-vaccine and other conspiracy theories. Its origin is not clear. That the message’s anonymous author is only identified as “an Australian nurse” is early cause for suspicion.
The message claims infrared thermometers release a beam of infrared light, a type of light not visible to people but that can be felt as heat, to measure a person’s temperature. But the thermometers only detect infrared radiation – they don’t, and can’t, emit it.
This has been noted by several fact-checking organisations that have been debunking increasingly dramatic versions of the hoax since it was first picked up by a Lithuanian fact-checking site in May 2020.
Meta-study of 37 different assessments of infrared thermometers found they were not accurate enough to replace more invasive rectal thermometers. And some experts have voiced concerns that infrared thermometers may fail to detect many Covid-19 cases.
But the same study advised that infrared thermometers could effectively replace other, less invasive thermometers.
The Facebook message also says that pointing an infrared thermometer at the wrist instead of the forehead gives a more accurate temperature reading. But this is not true. The US Food and Drug Administration recommends pointing infrared thermometers directly at the forehead for an accurate reading.
Experts from the Meedan Digital Health Lab, a journalism project aimed at addressing health misinformation, say no digital thermometers, including infrared ones, have any effects on health.
This message is brought to you by Sky Fm in collaboration with Code For Africas’iLab Data Journalism Program supported by DW Akademie
