Dec 12 2006
A new low-tech product made from high-tech materials, the Handler anti-microbial handheld door opening device, becomes one of the first truly practical tools designed to help individuals fight the perennial battle against infectious diseases. It does so by breaking the cycle of transmission and leaving the dreaded culprits at the door -- literally. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tell us that common colds, flus and staph infections, to name a few, are often transmitted as a result of intimate contact with carriers as well as contact with common surfaces that we share with them. As a first line of defense, the Handler, which fits conveniently on your key-chain, is a handheld device with a deployable gripping arm that allows users to interact with the most egregious of disease transmitting surfaces like restroom door handles, elevator buttons, and ATM keypads without actually making direct contact with them.
What makes the Handler so unique is that its rubber and plastic components are infused with nano silver particles which effectively kill 98% of all single-celled organisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi) on contact. The Handler's button-activated rubberized hook was designed to easily pull open doors, even heavy ones requiring up to 60 lbs of force, and it is agile enough to actuate most of the public restroom levers, buttons and faucet handles so reviled by millions of germ-conscious users across America.
Maker Enterprises LLC, a Los Angeles-based product development company led by brothers Paul and Jeff Metzger, are introducing their self-sanitizing device after several independent laboratory tests were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the nano silver particles in the Handler. "Even with impressive documentation given to us by our manufacturer, we still wanted to be absolutely sure that the performance of the nano silvers met our own expectations, especially since my brother and I were going to be the Handler's very first real customers," says Paul Metzger, a former public defender turned entrepreneur. "We felt that if it worked to our satisfaction that there would be millions of people like us who would much rather put their hands on a Handler than a public restroom door handle," his brother Jeff Metzger adds. "We knew that, based on market research, as many as 60% of Americans had the same concerns that we did, especially with the impending avian flu situation on our collective horizon."