Safety experts are warning parents to immediately stop letting their kids use Tuladuo water beads sets.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said in a press release that the beads contain levels of the chemical acrylamide that violate the Federal Hazardous Substances Act.
The CPSC said the water beads can be toxic if swallowed and can grow in size once inside the body.
Ingestion of the beads can lead to a number of health effects like vomiting, dehydration, intestinal blockages, and may even require surgery for removal, CPSC said.
The CPSC said it has “heard heartbreaking stories from parents whose children ingested water beads and suffered severe consequences, including grave internal injuries, lifelong health impacts and death.”
The safety commission is aware of the case of a 10-month-old girl who died from ingesting the beads.
Water beads are sold as children’s toys and are appealing in both color and texture, in some ways mimicking candy. Water bead ingestion injuries made up nearly 7,000 emergency room visits in the U.S. between 2018 and 2022, according to CPSC data.
The CPSC’s warning applies to two different water beads sets. Both come with 50,000 small beads and 50 large water beads in a plastic bag. One of the sets comes with tools like funnels and shovels, and the other comes with tools, ocean animal toys and an inflatable mat.
The sets were sold on Amazon between March 2021 and November 2023 by Tuladuo US. Some were also sold on Amazon by Dohuan US.
There is no official company recall for the products because the CPSC’s attempts were unsuccessful. CPSC said Tuladuo US, which is located in China, hasn’t agreed to an acceptable recall, and that Dohuan US, which is also in China, didn’t respond to the recall request.
CPSC said the products should be thrown in the trash.
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