(DailyEmailNews.com) – Parents, beware! Dangerous toys like magnetic sets and water beads are flooding the market, putting our kids at risk.
Over 8,000 emergency room visits since 2007 have been linked to water beads alone, with more than half involving children under five.
These seemingly innocent toys can expand to 400 times their size when swallowed, causing potentially fatal bowel obstructions.
But the alarming issue does not stop there. Magnetic toy sets, often marketed as educational, pose an even greater threat.
When kids swallow them, these powerful magnets can attract each other through intestinal walls, leading to life-threatening complications.
Despite knowing about these dangers for years, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission only recently recalled over 50,000 water bead kits.
Critics have described these actions as coming too little, too late for the families who have already suffered.
“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,” explained Dr. Salwa Malik.
However, the threat is not just isolated to water beads and magnets. Electric scooters, promoted as eco-friendly alternatives to cars, have led to a 71% increase in injuries among children and teens from 2020 to 2021.
Even seemingly innocent hair styling tools are now a threat, with 31,000 burn injuries reported among young people from 2013 to 2022.
The story of Luke McMillan highlights the threats of seemingly innocent toys flooding the market.
Luke was 1 year old when he swallowed a button battery. For two months, doctors misdiagnosed his condition as acid reflux and an ear infection.
It was not until an X-ray revealed the battery lodged in his esophagus that the true extent of the danger became clear.
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