NORFOLK, Va. — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has proposed a new rule to establish an updated safety standard for water bead toys and toys containing water beads.
Water beads are small, colorful, and super absorbent gels that are marketed towards kids. They can also grow when exposed to water.
I have reported on water beads before as advocates called on Congress to introduce legislation that better protects kids. I am following through now as Senators have taken that step and now the CPSC is accepting public comments on new safety standards.
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A pivotal part of this conversation has been Ashely Haugen, better known as That Water Bead Lady.
“Kids can't wait. This issue cannot wait,” she says. “We don't need any more kids to be severely injured by water beads.”
Haugen has been advocating for the ban of water beads after her daughter, Kipley, was hospitalized for ingesting them in 2017.
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“Kipley is going to have to live with the consequences and the repercussions of her injury for the rest of her life,” she says. “She receives therapy at school — special education therapy and also speech therapy to help her continue to make forward progress.”
Kipley, who is now eight, survived but there are other kids who have not – namely, Ester Jo Bethard, a 10-month-old who died last year after swallowing a water bead.
Out of her death came Ester’s Law, proposed legislation, in part, to limit kid’s access to water beads.
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“We wanted to honor her memory and protect other children,” Haugen says.
Despite a growing number of companies who support this initiative, I did a quick google search and you can find the toys for sale from a variety of websites.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that over 30 firms supply water beads to the U.S. market, amounting to seven manufacturers, 23 importers, and more than 12,681 retailers.
In a new study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy and Central Ohio Poison Center at Ohio's Nationwide Children's Hospital say that although there have been product recalls and safety standards set related to water bead issues in recent years, rapidly increasing rates of emergency department visits related to the product, particularly during the study's last two years, show the current prevention strategies are not enough.
Herb Weisbaum, a contributor for Consumers’ Checkbook has been reporting on water beads for years.
He says, “if a child swallows them, the emergency room doctor may not even have a clue as to what happened because they don't show up in X rays.”
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In September, the CPSC held a public meeting to consider a draft for proposed rulemaking to establish safety standards for water beads.
“There's still more to do as we establish final safety standards,” says Chairperson Alexander Hoehn-Saric.
Richard Trumka added, "when members of the public bring problems to us, they deserve solutions."
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Commissioner Trumka added two amendments, both of which were adopted by the commission:
- Getting clarification on if color provides evidence that the water bead is a toy. Toys are subject to the rule, but non-toys are not
- Getting clarification on whether water beads can stick to food or anything else that would create an obstruction
“I think a lot of people believe that if you can buy it online, even possibly from a reputable website that you know or trust, means the product is safe, and as water beads prove, that's not necessarily the case,” Weisbaum says.
The public comment period for the CPSC is open until Nov. 8, 2024.
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