Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball

September 8, 2022 11:16 PM

I just bought this bubble machine and it came with a big warning that it can't be used by someone with a pace maker or who recently had a heart attack. Why?

It is rechargeable and uses a USB. It uses concentrated bubble liquid mixed with water. It rotates. Why is it deadly?

posted by Toddles to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

Best answer: I think this is like not being able to use a cell phone on a plane. It's better to be safe than sorry.
In this case I suspect the caution has reached the point of being ridiculous, because there's no way it's emitting radio waves, and because there's no way you could screen everyone who attended any party you might put on with it. We'd probably have heard of bubble machine deaths at parties if it was possible.
Come to think of it, I've never heard of someone with a pacemaker dying from any kind of interference at all.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 12:34 AM on September 9, 2022

Best answer: Perhaps this machine have magnets in it? Apple has also warned about "potential magnetic interference with medical devices" with many of its products too. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211900.

"Under certain conditions, magnets and electromagnetic fields might interfere with medical devices. For example, implanted pacemakers and defibrillators might contain sensors that respond to magnets and radios when in close contact."
posted by applesurf at 2:00 AM on September 9, 2022

Best answer: Expanding on applesurf's comments, the bubble maker probably has a traditional brushed DC motor in it, which uses permanent magnets. The puzzling thing is the warning states "has a pacemaker or has recently had a heart attack." It's fairly common knowledge that pacemakers can be sensitive to RF, magnetic fields, etc, but there's no reason why a person who has recently had a heart attack but does not have a pacemaker would have any special sensitivity. I suspect it's just boilerplate, "It's better to have overly expansive warnings to cover ourselves."
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 4:24 AM on September 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Ignore it. People with pacemakers even undergo MRIs (under supervision) which use superstong magnetic fields. And magnetic strength falls off with the cube of distance. 12% at 2 feet, 4% at 3 ft, 1.5% at 4 ft ,etc.

The tiny magnet in that thing's motor would basically have zero effect on anyone. Otherwise people would be dropping dead all over the place from the thousands of tiny electric motors that surround us.
posted by mono blanco at 7:37 AM on September 9, 2022

Best answer: It's a bubble machine, the warning is probably the tradeoff of making it heavier and more expensive by adding technically-required shielding.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:50 AM on September 9, 2022

See also: California Prop. 65. Damn near everything has a "may cause cancer" warning on it just because it's easier to do the warning than it is to guarantee that it doesn't cause cancer. It's fucking everywhere on everything "just in case" and "hey, you were warned", even if it's just a box of cereal. Pretty meaningless.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:19 AM on September 10, 2022

It depends.

Does it have a UL mark or a CE mark (or CSA or...)?

I suspect that it doesn't - and it means that it either wasn't tested against EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) or failed EMC testing.

Would be super curious to see if it has a CCC mark (I suspect it doesn't).

Since it's battery operated, any EMC emissions would probably be too low powered to seriously affect pacemakers, but stranger things have been documented [incompliancemag].

You don't list a location in your profile, but CE marking is required for importation/ sale in the EU, CSA for Canada, UL for the USA, CCC for China, and now UKCA for the UK (because brexit).

Of course, CE and UKCA are self-declarations, CSA and UL marks require being registered with a NRTL. But fakes abound.
posted by porpoise at 10:12 AM on September 10, 2022