Water beads are tiny balls made of superabsorbent polymers that can grow up to 1,500 times their size when placed in liquid. If ingested, inhaled, or inserted in ear canals, water beads absorb bodily fluids and can lead to potentially life-threatening injuries, such as intestinal or bowel obstruction, or lung or ear damage. These hazardous products have prompted discussions about their safety amongst safety advocates, medical groups, and policymakers. Just this week, it was reported that several children ingested water beads at a daycare center in Louisiana. One child has been admitted to the intensive care unit, and two went to the emergency room.
Today, we asked ChatGPT about how to keep children safe from water beads, to not only discover what information it provides, but to also correct any misinformation. Everything ChatGPT provided is Italicized, and then KID’s notes:
GPT: Protecting children from water beads involves several measures to ensure their safety, as these beads can pose a choking hazard due to their small size and potential for ingestion. Here are some ways to protect children:
Supervision: Always supervise young children when they are playing with water beads. Ensure older children understand the safety rules and guidelines.
KID’s Notes: Water beads are dangerous, even with supervision. Children can find water beads and swallow them without caregivers knowing the child had the opportunity to ingest a bead in the first place. Because of their small size, bounce, and translucent nature they can easily escape, hiding in carpet, under furniture, appliances, and even in other toys. Like glitter, they are difficult to get rid of once opened. Water beads don’t dissolve or break down. Instead, they shrink back to the size of a sprinkle and can be rehydrated again for reuse. So, it is easy for them to hide around a house for weeks, and in some cases years without caregivers knowing.
Age-appropriate: Consider the age recommendations for water beads. Some products specify a minimum age due to choking hazards.
KID’s Notes: Paying attention to age grading is important and should be adhered to with children’s toys. However, in many cases, water beads bought and played with by older siblings can harm younger children months later. This was the case with 10-month-old Esther Jo Bethard who lost her life after she swallowed a stray water bead that an older sibling had played with months earlier. In her honor, U.S. Senators introduced ‘Esther’s Law,’ bipartisan legislation to ban the sale of water beads marketed to children.
Storage: Store water beads securely out of reach of children when not in use. Ensure containers are childproof or placed in a location inaccessible to small children.
KID’s Notes: We do not recommend storing these items in the house at all. In fact, Ashley Haugen, better known as That Water Bead Lady put it best when she said “Get rid of them and then stay vigilant because to completely eliminate the risk you would need to be able to track a grain of rice in a snowstorm. No one can consistently contain a death trap the size of a sprinkle.”
Educate about choking hazards: Teach children about the dangers of putting small objects in their mouths and emphasize that water beads are not edible.
KID’s Notes: Young children learn from their environment by putting objects into their mouths. This is called the mouthing phase. It is a healthy form of discovery, and a sign of advancing physical and cognitive development. Small, colorful water beads look like candy so it is reasonable that a young child would put them in their mouth. Keep them away from children.
Alternative activities: Consider safer alternatives for sensory play that do not involve small, swallowable objects, especially for very young children.
KID’s Notes: We agree with this suggestion! There are lots of fun edible sensory play alternatives such as jello, cooked pasta, popping boba, and tapioca pearls.
Emergency preparedness: Know what to do in case a child ingests water beads. Immediate medical attention may be necessary if a child swallows them.
KID’s Notes: Yes, seek immediate medical attention and alert the medical professionals that the child swallowed a water bead.
KID’s takeaway: We found that ChatGPT does not do a good job of conveying the dangers of water beads. Water beads have a knack for hiding in various places like carpet fibers, under furniture, appliances, and other toys. They can shrink to the size of a sprinkle when dry and are often difficult to spot even when fully hydrated. Overconfidence in adult supervision, not only among parents but also teachers and therapists, can lead to delayed help, diagnosis, and treatment. One of the reasons that parents are so shocked when they learn that their child was injured by a water bead is because they followed the advice given. They used adult supervision consistently, they cleaned up the beads after they used them, and they followed the age recommendation. Despite all the precautions, children were still injured, or died. The most effective prevention strategy is to avoid using water beads in homes and settings with children.
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