Water Beads: UK Doctors Warn Of The Dangers Of Popular Christmas Gift

Christmas just went by, leaving many gifts behind to unpack. While it is fun to open them, emergency doctors in the UK have issued a safety warning against one of the famous gifts to children on Christmas. These are water beads.

Water beads are brightly colored soft plastic beads, sometimes known as jelly balls or sensory beads or water crystals. These are marketed as crafting tools and homeware items, and also, toys.

They are very small in size, a few millimetres, but can expand several times the original size, if exposed to liquid for 36 hours.

Due to such a small size and its texture, it is easy for children to assume that this can be swallowed. If a child swallows one, these jelly balls can create bowel obstruction and consequences may be fatal too.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) advised that beads should be kept away from children under five. What is also problematic is to detect the bead once it is in someone's system. This is because they are not visible on X-rays. This can cause choking, and there too have been death in children due to the beads. The Office for Product Safety and Standards' statement mentioned that beads must only be used by older children, or vulnerable adults under close supervision.

For a child, in this case, it would mean that the water bead is stuck in the trachea (the airway). When this happens, air cannot flow normally into or out of the lungs, resulting in problems with the child in breathing.

The trachea is typically safeguarded by a small tissue flap called the epiglottis. This flap plays a crucial role in managing the shared opening at the back of the throat between the trachea and the esophagus. Acting like a lid, the epiglottis snaps shut over the trachea each time we swallow, guiding food safely down the esophagus and keeping it out of the trachea.

Occasionally, the epiglottis doesn’t close quickly enough, allowing food or an object to slip into the trachea—commonly known as something "going down the wrong pipe."

In most cases, the blockage is only partial, and a strong cough clears it out, restoring normal breathing quickly. Children who experience this may appear to be choking and coughing but can usually still breathe and talk. Though it can be an uncomfortable and alarming moment, they typically recover on their own within a few seconds.

The issue is also because water beads look like candy, enticing young ones to swallow it. There have been cases when kids have also put them in their ears and inhaled them.

These beads can absorb body fluid and may continue to grow once inside the body. It can cause blockages and life-threatening damage. Other than not being visible on X-rays and causing kids to choke, the water beads may contain harmful chemicals.

Although they are labeled "non toxic", federal safety officials have warned about chemicals like acrylamide used to make these beads. Amounts of acrylamide found in some products have exceeded current US safety standards.

How to know if your kid has swallowed water beads?