NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After mounting pressure from safety groups, major retailers including Amazon, Walmart and Target just announced that they will stop selling the popular children’s toy called water beads.
And the move couldn’t come soon enough as new testing by Consumer Reports and the Consumer Product Safety Commission reveals potentially dangerous ingredients that could make water beads an even greater hazard to children.
This past fall, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning about a popular children’s toy called water beads. If swallowed, these tiny, super-absorbent and super-expanding toys can cause vomiting, intestinal blockages and life-threatening injuries.
Now, after extensive testing by Consumer Reports and the CPSC, new dangers have emerged - toxic chemicals.
“Tests found chemicals like acrylamide, a likely carcinogen that is also toxic to the brain," said Consumer Reports Investigative Reporter Lauren Kirchner. "And BPA, which has been linked to certain cancers and fertility issues.”
But many packages of water beads are labeled “nontoxic” what gives?
“Non-toxic' is a label that you see a lot, on all kinds of different types of products, but consumers might not know that it's a term that is really under-enforced and under-regulated,” Kirchner said.
“Just because something says that it's non-toxic does not mean that it is safe and that it does not mean that this product cannot potentially poison a child,” said Ashley Haugen from That Water Bead Lady.
Ashley Haugen says her daughter continues suffering from long-term toxic effects of having ingested a water bead years ago.
“They ended up diagnosing Kipley with toxic brain encephalopathy, which is a brain injury,” Haugen said.
Consumer Reports and other safety advocates are calling for a ban on these products.
“And asking retailers to follow Amazon, Walmart, and Target’s lead, and take them off their shelves,” Kirchner added.
And if you have water beads in your house, best advice - throw them away.
Online retailers Etsy and AliExpress also stopped selling products with water beads and Amazon says its third party sellers have until December 22nd to comply with the new policy.
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