Hospital doctors have warned parents against buying young children water beads this Christmas, due to the ‘devastating’ risk of fatal bowel obstruction if swallowed.
The colourful, tiny balls, measuring a few millimetres in size and also known as jelly balls or water crystals, are thought to have sensory benefits for toddlers.
But when ingested, they expand to 400 times their original size within three days, and can become stuck in the gut — which can prove deadly.
Now, The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has issued a fresh warning about the beads, highlighting a spate of deaths they’ve been linked to in the US.
‘As an emergency medicine doctor, I have seen parents holding their child’s hand and watching over them while they lay on a bed in an emergency department, in need of urgent care because they have ingested one of these items,’ said Dr Salwa Malik, vice-president of the RCEM.
‘As a parent, I can imagine how utterly terrifying and traumatic that would be to go through – for a mum, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, brother, sister and, of course, the child themselves.
‘Having seen the effects first-hand, which can be devastating and detrimental, we are asking people to please think twice about the dangers these pose while selecting and gifting presents this season.’
It follows a safety alert from the UK’s Office for Product Safety and Standards in September, which warned that water beads can cause ‘gastrointestinal blockage requiring surgery’ and ‘suffocation or choking’, and should be kept away from children under five.
Water beads are marketed as children’s toys, said to have sensory benefits.
They should only be used by older children under close supervision of an adult,’ the warning added.
In August, doctors from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, the US, published a study revealing that the toys have been responsible for more than 8,000 visits to US emergency departments since 2007.
The number of visits increased rapidly between 2021 and 2022 — by more than 130 per cent, the researchers found.
More than half of cases involved children under five and all of the young children suffered consequences of swallowing the beads.
However, putting beads in the ear, nose and eye were also noted by researchers as causes of injuries.
Dr Malik added: ‘These objects could be found under your tree or in a stocking this festive season, hidden in gifts that are intended to bring joy to a child or vulnerable person, but which, if swallowed, could result in critical illness and the need for emergency medical treatment.
Kennedy Mitchell underwent five surgeries after accidentally swallowing a water bead. A Change.org petition to ban the children’s toy has received over 40,650 signatures
Kennedy is now able to go home from hospital after spending the majority of the past month undergoing tests and surgeries following a blockage in her bowel which nearly killed her
In March 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 infant was injured and another died.
The injured child, Kennedy Mitchell of Maine, was hospitalised after she swallowed one of the beads. She suffered a life-threatening bowel blockage, which cut off the blood supply to part of her intestines.
A first surgery was performed to extract the water bead, but damage to Kennedy’s intestines was already done.
The 10-month-old went into septic shock, and had to be put on a ventilator. A second operation checked for any more obstructions, but none were found.
Two further surgeries were needed to remove the extra fluid in her intestines and take pressure off her organs.
The infant was able to return home soon after.
In February last year, parents in California filed a lawsuit against toy company Orbeez after at least one child died as a result of eating one.
