from Journal of Burn Care Research
Hot water is too, well, hot! That is the
finding of a study in the Journal of Burn
Care Research. Even though makers of
water heaters voluntarily preset their
heaters below the recommended safety
standard of one hundred-twenty degrees,
more than forty percent of the homes
surveyed had water hotter than that. The
result is a scald hazard for young children
and the elderly whose skin is thinner and
burns more easily. Delivering hot water at
a safe temperature is more complex than
simply setting the water heater, since as a
hot water tank is depleted, replenished
and reheated, water temperature will not
be constant. Researchers at Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Medicine
recommend families test water
temperatures after adjusting the faucet
mix or equip faucets with anti-scald
devices.