ORLANDO, Fla. – Public bathrooms, shopping carts, restaurant tables and even your child's classroom -- you know your family is surrounded by germs every day.
No one wants to think their home is dirty, harboring germs and bacteria, but it is.
And the Nano UV Wand promises to kill all of them and more.
Vanessa Chapman likes a tidy house, but with four children, that's easier said than done.
"It's never going to be perfect, and I had to give that up two kids ago," Chapman said.
With three girls in their teens and tweens and a 6-year-old boy, Chapman worries about what kind of germs her family is spreading through their home.
"We've got turtles in the back yard they always pick up and find and play with, and I don't know if there's enough hand washing going on," said Chapman.
Chapman says she'd love to have a magic wand to make the danger disappear.
"If it really works, I think it would be fantastic. I will take any help I can get," she said.
Enter the Nano UV Wand, made by Zadro Health Solutions.
It promises to kill 99.99 percent of bacteria in less than 10 seconds.
The box shows users wanding everything from remote controls to baby bottles, even raw chicken and produce.
Local 6 took the wand and all its promises to Dr. Blanca Cortes at EMSL labs in Orlando.
Cortes created a scientific study for Local 6 and tested four different bacteria: E-Coli, Salmonella, and Listeria, as well as a cocktail mix of Staphylococcus and fecal bacteria.
She prepped each sample, placed each in its own Petri dish, and zapped one dish of each bacteria with the wand's UV light for 10 seconds. Local 6 had results in just 24 hours.
E-Coli, Listeria and the bacteria cocktail did, in fact, have a kill rate in the 99th percentile, Cortes said.
Salmonella, however, proved tougher to kill. Cortes says it would likely take more than 10 seconds to kill it and the wand allows a consumer to zap a surface for up to five minutes.
As for the bacteria that did survive, Cortes says there is risk it could survive and become stronger, but that would happen over a significant length of time.
For Cortes, the risk doesn't outweigh the reward, and she herself would be interested in owning one.
As for Chapman, who relies on elbow grease and bleach to clean, she's ready to wand away the germs.
"If I could get away from using so many chemical products, I think that would be a wonderful thing," said Chapman.
Cortes also tested the wand on mold and had a 50 percent kill rate after a 10 second zap.
Cortes does warn that using a UV wand does not replace washing surfaces or dishes or food. It's simply a helpful tool to further sanitize.
Click here for all results of test conducted by EMSL. Click here for further information on Salmonella and here for information on Listeria and E-Coli.