What risk do water bead ingestions pose?
Water beads are a popular toy for children. While the water bead capsule is non-toxic by nature, the beads absorb water and expand rapidly as they absorb it. Further, the beads are radiolucent, which creates a challenge in identifying them with imaging. According to the cited reference, water beads have resulted in multiple cases of gastrointestinal obstruction requiring surgical intervention
Cairns, R., Brown, J.A. and Buckley, N.A. (2016), Dangerous toys: the expanding problem of water-absorbing beads. Medical Journal of Australia, 205: 528-528. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja16.00936
Contributed by: Alexandra Fountaine
Posted in Question Of The Day