Mom speaks out on dangers of water beads, urges ban after daughter’s injury: “It breaks my heart”

Water beads might look innocent and enjoyable, however the authors of a brand new report — together with a mother whose daughter was critically injured by them — are calling for a ban on their sale.

When Ashley Haugen’s daughter Kipley was a toddler, she developed a rash and was throwing up. Medical doctors could not determine what was improper. It turned out she had ingested the small, water-absorbing beads her older sister was enjoying with. The beads can develop to 100 instances their dimension when uncovered to water. 

“Throughout surgical procedure, they discovered the water beads had prompted a blockage inside her small gut,” Haugen instructed CBS Information. “As a result of the water beads had been marketed as non-toxic eco-friendly and biodegradable, all people thought that she can be advantageous.”

However within the weeks that adopted, Kipley started having hassle with coordination and responding to instructions. Medical doctors confirmed she was experiencing developmental delays, resulting in a analysis of poisonous mind encephalopathy.

Kipley’s case was just lately been printed within the journal Pediatrics. Haugen is without doubt one of the first father or mother advocates to co-author a case report within the journal. The authors are additionally calling for warning labels concerning the dangers of ingestion on all merchandise containing water beads.

“Water beads are made from poly acrylamide and acrylamide is a identified neurotoxin. Our shopper merchandise and the chemical substances used to make them are usually not nicely regulated,” Dr. Elizabeth Friedman, the Medical Director for Environmental Well being at Kids’s Mercy Kansas Metropolis, instructed CBS Information. 

Kipley, now 8 years previous, is not alone. Greater than 7,800 ingestion accidents had been handled in U.S. emergency departments from 2016 to 2022, in response to information from the Client Product Security Fee. In 2023, 10-month-old little one died after swallowing water beads.

“It breaks my coronary heart, what occurred to Kipley. And for me, it has been very therapeutic to have the ability to know that that ache has a goal,” Haugen stated. 

Haugen runs an advocacy web site known as That Water Bead Girl to assist households whose kids have been injured by customers merchandise. 

Kipley had this message for lawmakers: “Please work collectively to ban water beads. A number of children like me acquired damage.”

“Kipley has made quite a lot of progress. She nonetheless has challenges, however she is an incredible little advocate,” her mother added.