translated from Spanish: “Gun” thermometers don’t kill neurons

A message that has been circulating since mid-June and has been shared thousands of times on social media ensures that infrared thermometers, frequently used in public spaces during health checks to prevent COVID-19 infection, can cause neurological damage and “kill neurons.” But the statement was rejected by the experts consulted by AFP Factual. In addition, these devices are receivers, not power emitters.
The message about the alleged risk of “pistolite” thermometers was shared more than 7,500 times on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The same content was sent for verification to AFP Factual email and WhatsApp, where a version with only audio is also circulated. The message sowed doubts in some users, who wonder whether to continue letting them take the temperature with these devices.
One of the main symptoms of COVID-19 is fever. Therefore, in the midst of the current pandemic, supermarkets, shopping malls, airports, hospitals and other public enclosures control the body temperature of people with gun-shaped thermometers, without the need for direct contact. The viral message in networks ensures that these devices pose a health risk.
“Everyone in the supermarkets and in the shops doesn’t give them information about what that gun does. It doesn’t feel, like when you go to the doctor and you get x-rays, it doesn’t sit down, but it’s being stored”Begins.
He adds: “I wonder, how many times in the week you go to the super and they’re radiating right in your head. Today you get killed by 1000 neurons, tomorrow another 1000, the day after tomorrow another 1000 and that in the long run brings countless alterations with your central nervous system that controls your automations and you will never know that it was because of that lamp”, says the message, issued by someone who presents himself as “Dr. José Mena“.
In addition, it recommends that you ask that the device not be used on the head, but on the arm. “The temperature can be measured even on the big toe, it doesn’t have to be on the head“He says.
Receivers, non-emitters
According to this manufacturer’s user manual, digital gun-shaped thermometers work with an infrared sensor that measures body temperature and emits no energy. That is, contrary to what ensures the viral message, they are not “radian”, but are receptors of external signals.
This measurement is then transformed into an electrical signal that is finally reflected on the digital display, indicating the temperature of the person. This procedure usually lasts a few seconds.

Original source in Spanish