The risks of using samovars as the main tea-preparing facility in some Eastern countries

Samovars were the main device used to boil water for making tea in 75% of the households; 55.2% of samovars were placed in the kitchen, 20% in the living room and the remainder elsewhere. The device was placed where the floor surface was uneven in 15.1% of the houses. It was placed in traffic areas in at least 20.7% and where it was accessible to preschool children in 60%. Only 11.5% of the 194 kerosene samovars examined had a national standard maintenance mark. Mean volume capacity of samovars was 6.9 l (6.4-7.4 l). A tap problem was observed in 17.4% of samovars, an unstable base in 7.7%, an unstable teapot in 13.4%, unstable handles in 7.2%, broken handles in 5.7%, an unstable water container in 13.4% and an unstable container lid in 5.1%. With most of the samovars there were technical problems making them unsafe. Behaviours in using samovars were also unsafe.