Wajir residents destroy thermos flasks after fears that they cause cancer

A section of Wajir residents this week destroyed vacuum flasks after word went round that they can cause cancer.

There were allegations that the substance found between the inner and outer glass causes cancer, forcing residents to quickly act and destroy the flasks.

Several tea sellers led by example saying they know what cancer is capable of and they would rather be safe than sorry.

Others, however, treated the rumour with a pinch of salt, maintaining that they have been consuming tea from flasks for many years and have never experienced any side effects.

The situation was made worse as videos of people breaking flasks were shared on social media causing panic even in neighbouring towns.

A vacuum flask can be simply explained as a bottle inside a bottle separated by a vacuum.

Most have an inner chamber and an outer plastic or metal case separated by two layers of glass with a vacuum in between.

The glass is usually lined with a reflective metal layer. Unbreakable flasks do away with the glass.

Instead, they have two layers of stainless steel with a vacuum and a reflecting layer in between them.

There's also a tight, screw-down stopper on the top.

These simple features are meant to prevent heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation.

The vacuum prevents conduction, the tight stopper prevents air from entering or leaving the flask through convection while the reflective surface prevents radiation.