OCU warns of the risk of home slime for children
There are many ways in which a child can have fun and toys are one of them. There is a large catalog that ranges from dolls to vehicle replicas. The crafts can also be a alternative to be entertained, however, one must be very careful with the activity that is chosen in this sense since it can cause the opposite effect.
This is the warning that they make from the Consumers and Users Organization, OCU, that warns of the risk that the preparation of the homemade "slime" can suppose for the children. A product that entails a high risk of toxicity for the little ones since the tutorials that show the process to create this product does not warn of the threats that minors face.
High risk of toxicity
The slime is a toy characterized by being a sticky mucus that can be molded and create different shapes that exploit the imagination of children. In recent times, videos on the internet have become popular as a tutorial on how to make these items at home.
For this elaboration they need chemical products like boric acid (or borax), toxic sustance used as an oxidizing and bleaching product. Items that can be found easily in establishments such as drugstores, pharmacies or cleaning products such as dishwasher tablets.
The problem arises when these videos do not expose the danger that these products may have for children or indicate, in most cases, safety standards that avoid these problems. In this way, the little ones fill a water bottle with the solutions of boric acid that, being transparent, can be confused with water and drink it by mistake.
How to detect poisoning
The intake of boric acid manifests itself through various symptom. The mildest are the gastrointestinal, skin lesions and chemical burns more or less serious caused in the hands of children by manipulating slimes are also frequent. If larger amounts of this substance are taken, more serious problems may occur: kidney failure, cardiac arrhythmias, coma and seizures.
If the poisoning is more severe, it may be necessary to have a gastric lavage and, in more acute cases, to resort to dialysis. If one of these cases is detected, the first step is to call the number of health emergencies, 112, and explain the situation to be able to apply measures as soon as possible while waiting for the arrival of the professionals.
Damián Montero
