Hospital doctors have warned parents not to buy water beads for young children this Christmas, due to the “devastating” risk of fatal intestinal obstruction if swallowed.
The small, colorful balls, measuring just a few millimeters in size and also known as jelly balls or water crystals, are thought to have sensory benefits for young children.
But when ingested, they expand up to 400 times their original size in three days and can become trapped in the intestine, which can be fatal.
Now the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has issued a new warning about the accounts, highlighting a series of deaths they have been linked to in the United States.
“As an emergency physician, I have seen parents holding their children’s hands and watching over them while they were lying on a bed in an emergency department, needing urgent care because they had ingested one of these items,” said Dr. Salwa Malik. vice president of the RCEM.
‘As a parent, I can imagine how absolutely terrifying and traumatic it would be to go through that, for a mom, a dad, a grandma, a grandpa, an aunt, an uncle, a brother, a sister and of course for the child themselves. .
“Having seen the effects first-hand, which can be devastating and damaging, we ask people to think twice about the dangers they pose when selecting and giving gifts this season.”
This follows a safety alert from the UK’s Office of Standards and Product Safety in September, which warned that water beads can cause “gastrointestinal obstruction requiring surgery” and “choking or suffocation”, and should be kept out of the reach of children under five years of age.
Water beads are marketed as children’s toys and are said to have sensory benefits.
“They should only be used by older children under close adult supervision,” the warning adds.
In August, doctors at National Children’s Hospital in Ohio, USA, published a study revealing that toys have been responsible for more than 8,000 visits to US emergency departments since 2007.
The researchers found that the number of visits increased rapidly between 2021 and 2022, by more than 130 percent.
More than half of the cases involved children under five years old and all young children suffered the consequences of swallowing the beads.
However, researchers also noted that placing beads in the ear, nose and eyes was a cause of injury.
Dr Malik added: “These items could be found under your tree or in a stocking this holiday season, hidden in gifts meant to bring joy to a child or vulnerable person, but which, if ingested, could cause serious illness. and death.” need for emergency medical treatment.
Kennedy Mitchell underwent five surgeries after accidentally swallowing a drop of water. A Change.org petition to ban the children’s toy has received more than 40,650 signatures
Kennedy is now able to return home from the hospital after spending most of last month undergoing tests and surgeries following a blockage in her intestine that nearly killed her.
In March of last year, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and toy company Buffalo Games recalled more than 50,000 ‘Chuckle & Roar Ultimate Water Beads activity kits’ sold at the supermarket Target after one baby was injured and another died.
The injured girl, Kennedy Mitchell of Maine, was hospitalized after swallowing one of the beads. He suffered a life-threatening intestinal blockage that cut off the blood supply to part of his intestines.
A first surgery was performed to remove the water pearl, but the damage to Kennedy’s intestines had already been done.
The 10-month-old boy went into septic shock and had to be put on a ventilator. A second operation checked for more obstructions, but none were found.
Two more surgeries were needed to remove excess fluid in his intestines and relieve pressure on his organs.
The little boy was able to return home shortly after.
In February of last year, parents in California filed a lawsuit against the toy company Orbeez after at least one child died as a result of eating one.