Water Bead Sales Halted in Texas at Walmart, Target, and Amazon

Children in Texas and around the United States will no longer be able to purchase this fun toy from any of the major retailers.

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This fun children's toy hit the scene and became one of the most popular toys because of its transformation properties.

Water Beads

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Water beads start as tiny pieces of non-toxic polymers until you put them in water. Once in the water, they can grow 1500X their size. It was mainly created as a sensory toy.

However, a fun toy started becoming deadly

Small children were ingesting these beads, and in some cases led to death. According to poison.org.

Swallowing water beads can cause life-threatening intestinal damage. At least one death has occurred after water bead ingestion by a child. In that case, a 6-month-old boy suffered a bowel blockage after swallowing a single superabsorbent polymer bead given to him by a neighbor. The infant underwent surgery to fix the intestinal obstruction but later developed an infection and died. Water beads are also a choking hazard, especially in children younger than 3 years.

Over 7,800 emergency room visits were reported between 2016 - 2022 related to water beads, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Due to this hazard, major retailers have decided to pull water beads.

Walmart, Target, and Amazon will no longer sell water beads marketed to children

They have been pulled from the store shelves and online. There is a reason certain toys are no longer available for purchase and this is one of those items. Water beads are following in the same suit as Sky Dancers and lawn darts.

Water beads will still be available for purchase by adults for other purposes but will no longer be targeted as a toy for children.