Defective: Colorful water beads remain for sale despite retailers’ pledge to pull kids product

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (InvestigateTV) — Before Ashley Haugen buys a new toy for her daughters, she carefully researches the item and reads online reviews.

Are there small parts that could be a choking hazard?

What are the age recommendations?

And, most importantly, is it nontoxic?

When her oldest daughter, Abigail, begged for water beads for her 6th birthday in 2017, Haugen took to the Internet to determine if they were safe.

“It said that it was nontoxic. So it didn’t have even a trace of harmful chemicals in it. It was biodegradable, reusable, eco-friendly,” Haugen said of the Chinese-manufactured water beads that she bought on Amazon. “It warned that there was a choking hazard. You know, the hydrated balls were a choking hazard. And we figured, okay, . . . we can handle that. We use Legos all the time, and the girls have separate play areas.”

Abigail’s birthday wish came true.

Haugen set up what she believed was a safe environment for Abigail to play with the beads – away from her 1-year-old sister, Kipley, and under the watchful eye of her dad, Jonathan.

About a month later, a rash formed on Kipley’s face. Her pediatrian attributed it to a skin condition or soap allergy. Then a month after that, in July 2017, Kipley became violently ill. Her parents rushed her to the hospital where doctors performed emergency surgery and found water beads in her intestine. Somehow, an unknown number of water beads slipped away during Abigail’s carefully monitored playtime with them.

“We followed all the best advice. And yet, we were sitting here in the hospital,” Haugen said.

But that was just the beginning of Kipley’s medical issues and the launch of Haugen’s advocacy to ban water beads and raise awareness about unknown dangers in children’s toys that are labelled nontoxic.

Thousands of children have been injured by water beads, tiny specks about the size of a cookie sprinkle or glitter that expand 100 times their size when exposed to water.

An unknown number of children like Kipley have been poisoned by the chemicals used to make some water beads.

In fact, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last year tested water beads and found “concerning levels of acrylamide,” said agency commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. “I would not take any statement of nontoxic on water beads at face value.”

The National Cancer Institute says that acrylamide is “reasonably anticipated” to be a human carcinogen.

But countless products marketed for and to children claim to be nontoxic, a label that consumer advocates say is meaningless.

“The label ‘nontoxic’ isn’t regulated by anyone – EPA, FDA, CPSC, so it doesn’t necessarily mean a product meets a specific requirement or doesn’t contain hazardous materials,” said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids in Danger, a Chicago-based nonprofit that pushes for safety in children’s products.

Like many consumers, Haugen trusted a package label and product description only to learn that the CPSC doesn’t regulate the word “nontoxic.”

Consumers have filed complaints with the CPSC about products that claimed to be nontoxic that caused injuries.

One said that wood glue “burned my skin and left a chemical burn.”

One reported that a phone case that contained a liquid waterfall cracked and caused third-degree burns and blisters.

A mother reported that she and her 4-year-old son fell ill after playing with a toy that oozed a slimy substance. When she inadvertently touched her mouth after touching the goo, she said that it tasted like battery acid.

Soon after the water beads were surgically removed from Kipley Haugen, she began to regress developmentally. Haugen said that her daughter eventually was diagnosed with toxic brain encephalopathy, a brain injury due to exposure to the chemicals in the water beads.

They left life-long consequences.

Many products intended for children labelled ‘nontoxic’

In 2018, the U.S. PIRG Education Fund tested several back-to-school items for toxins and found asbestos in crayons, toxic chemicals in dry erase markers and lead in water bottles.

All the products were labeled as nontoxic.

Before a toy or a product intended for children hits the market, it is not tested by the CPSC to see if it meets safety standards, contains lead or harmful chemicals, or inspected for its marketing/packaging claims.

Manufacturers are required to certify that independent testing has been done on the toy to check for numerous regulated issues such as sharp edges, lead, and choking hazards. They also must follow the standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials, known as ASTM, an organization that sets standards on the manufacturing of consumer products.

But the ASTM has no enforcement authority if its standards are violated. That falls to the CPSC. The Federal Trade Commission too can step in if a company is misusing labels such as “nontoxic” or “all natural,” but that comes once those claims have already been made.

ASTM standards also are silent regarding the accuracy of a nontoxic label on the package.

At online retail sites, InvestigateTV found dozens of products marketed for children – mostly for arts and crafts – that claim to be nontoxic.

One manufacturer of washable crayons said it was safe for babies and toddlers and included a picture of a certification from a Chinese testing company showing that it passed its tests.

“Our crayons are asbestos-free, lead-free, and phthalate-free. They have passed certifications . . . ensuring they are safe for children. Our crayons are gentle on children’s skin and free from any harmful substances,” the online description said.

But the crayons are not listed on the Arts and Creative Materials Institute’s website as a product that has been tested and approved by its group.

For more than 80 years, the institute has been testing arts and crafts materials for toxicity. Products that bear its “AP seal” have been deemed nontoxic after undergoing testing by independent scientists including those at Duke University’ Division of Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

Hundreds of products appear on the list from Crayola Crayons to Elmer’s Glue to Silly Putty. Their packages have the AP certification seal, meaning that they have been tested and are nontoxic.

But InvestigateTV bought similar products from national arts and crafts stores that do not have the seal and claim to be nontoxic including crayons, paint, putty, molding sand, and chalk.

“I would love to see their testing and to see what they’ve checked for and to be able to confirm their results,” Commissioner Trumka said. “We do . . . have a toxics team that looks at chronic hazards and acute hazards from chemical exposure.”

But that CPSC testing largely happens either as a sampling of products entering the U.S. through a port or because a specific product already on the market has caused injuries.

That’s how the CPSC learned that claims of water beads being nontoxic were questionable.

Water bead-related injuries to children increase year after year in the past decade

Water beads first were manufactured as an agricultural product to help keep moisture in crops before becoming popular for floral arrangements and as a sensory toy for children with disabilities.

The CPSC has known about the risks of water-expanding toys since at least 2013 when it recalled two different products because of a serious ingestion hazard: one in 2013 and another in 2014.

According to those CPSC’s recall notices posted more than a decade ago, an 8-month-old girl ingested one of the balls, which had to be surgically removed. Abroad, a child died.

Surveillance data collected at about 100 emergency departments in the U.S. show an increase in the number of injuries attributed to water beads each year since 2015.

The patients treated in emergency departments include:

· A 4-year-old who was chewing on a balloon filled with water beads and swallowed some. They were lodged in his esophagus.

· A 3-year-old whose bowel was blocked by water beads he had swallowed.

· A 2-year-old ingested water beads that were marketed for floral arranging.

· A 67-year-old man at a group home who ingested what claimed to be nontoxic water beads during arts and crafts class.

· An 18-month-old swallowed water beads that leaked out of a toy frog.

All told, an estimated 8,000 children have been treated for water bead-related injuries – and at least one child died, according to Trumka.

This fall, the CPSC issued a recall for Chuckle & Roar Ultimate Water Bead Activity Kits that were sold exclusively at Target after a child died and another was seriously injured.

Many other water bead brands remained on the market despite complaints filed with the CPSC about them.

More than a year before that recall, a surgeon in Milwaukee reported to the CPSC that a child needed two major surgeries to remove water beads from his intestines. Other surgeons in the practice also had operated on other children with water bead obstructions. Those specific water beads have not been recalled.

In 2020, a Lubbock, Texas doctor reported that an 18-month-old boy who ingested some water beads had a collapsed lung. The bronchial tube was blocked by the beads.

The CPSC finally issued a warning about all water beads this fall. And, in December, most major retailers – including many major online stores – voluntarily agreed to stop selling them as a child’s toy. But water beads still can be found in some stores’ floral departments and at other online stores.

InvestigateTV found dozens of water bead listings on the websites of some of the companies that pledged to stop carrying water beads marketed for children. Instead, they now use words like “floral” and “decoration” in the listing titles – though old customer reviews still reference the water beads as toys, and some reviews even feature photos of what appear to be toddlers playing in kiddie pools full of water beads.

Haugen wants Congress to formally ban them for children, for doctors to report cases of chemical poisoning by them to the CPSC and for the agency to challenge claims of nontoxic on products intended for children.

“There’s no mandatory testing,” she said. The chemical found in water beads “acrylamide is not like a chemical that they’re generally going to test for. BPA is not a chemical that they are generally testing for. There are thousands of chemicals on the market.”

‘Parents have no idea’

When the surgeon removed the water beads from Kipley’s intestine, her parents thought that was the end of the ordeal. It was just the beginning.

She stopped responding to her name, she became clumsier and developed rashes on her body, Kipley’s mother said.

The Haugens went from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what was wrong.

A pediatrician specializing in early childhood intervention determined that Kipley was developmentally delayed, had sensory issues and needed speech therapy. Haugen said he diagnosed her with a brain injury due to chemical exposure.

Haugen said she knew it was caused by the water beads.

“Parents have no idea. They have no idea that there can be products in their houses that contain harmful chemicals. And they can be labeled as nontoxic. And companies can get away with it, especially companies overseas,” Haugen said.

She and her husband considered legal action. But because the water beads were made in China, there wasn’t anything they could do.

Instead, she focuses her energy on warning other parents to the hidden dangers in toys and launched a nonprofit organization, That Water Bead Lady. She also is lobbying Congress to ban them, visiting lawmakers last month in Washington, D.C.

“Parents most often if they see a product that’s labeled non toxic, they think that it means the product cannot hurt their child in any way, shape or form. And that it is completely free of any harmful chemicals, not even a trace,” she said.

Trumka agrees, especially because CPSC’s own testing confirmed toxins in some water beads.

“There’s companies marking that on products. And they’re not running that by us or any other government agency,” he said. “And there’s not standards out there that say what nontoxic means.”

In December, Kipley, now 7, wanted to make sure that Santa knew of the dangers posed by water beads and sent him a letter with an informational pamphlet included.

“I love that she thought of that. And that she is so creative. At the same time, it breaks my heart that she worries about kids getting hurt,” Haugen said.

Kipley receives special services at school but is “making forward progress,” Haugen said. “We are so proud of her. She is funny and kind and just an amazing little girl where we feel fortunate that she’s here.”

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