CHARLOTTE — If your kids love those soft, squishy fidget toys, the ones you squeeze for stress relief, you might want to take a closer look. A new Consumer Reports investigation found that some of these toys can break open and what’s inside may irritate kids’ skin, or even cause chemical burns.
Loved by kids, the bright, colorful squishy balls are often marketed as calming sensory tools. But many parents are seeing a trend: hundreds of one-star reviews on Amazon reporting the toys “popped within an hour,” or “broke within two hours of playing with it.”
Parents have reported the sticky gel from some toys has left kids with red, irritated, or even peeling skin.
Reports filed with the federal SaferProducts.gov site claim that children suffered severe skin irritation after their squishy toys burst open.
Breakage alone is a concern, but reports of kids with red, or peeling, or even chemical-burn-like injuries really raised serious questions.
Companies don’t have to list the ingredients of what’s inside these squishy toys. Some do, and some don’t. That’s why CR scientists decided to test some of these popular squishy toys to learn more about what’s inside.
Scientists bought eight squishy toys, broke them open and tested the pH of the gel inside. Seven had a neutral pH. One of them, the Nee-Doh “Groovy Glob,” had a pH level of 2, as acidic as lemon juice or vinegar.
CR safety experts say that level of acidity could pose a risk of chemical burns, especially on children’s delicate skin.
Schylling, the maker of Nee-Doh, challenged Consumer Reports’ pH test results and says that the inner gel is made of polyvinyl alcohol, which is safe for skin contact. The company added that they’ve been in contact with the CPSC and that after the sale of 100 million Nee-Doh toys, there have only been 4 reports of incidents to the CPSC.
TikTok trends have also been encouraging people to microwave squishy toys to make them softer. No one should ever do this. Consumer Reports found some toys exploded after just 15 seconds, reaching temperatures above 200 degrees. At that temperature, experts warn, instant burns are likely.
The gel toys can be a lot of fun, but it’s important for kids to use them safely. Never microwave or freeze. Don’t leave them in the car. Don’t give gel-filled toys to babies or toddlers.
If one does break on your child’s skin, wash it off right away and throw out the toy.
You can read Consumer Reports’ full investigation including safety tips and responses from regulators here.
COMPANY RESPONSE AS PUBLISHED IN CR’S INVESTIGATION:
Nee-Doh’s manufacturer Schylling told CR it has sold over 100 million units to date and received only four complaints to the CPSC.
The Nee-Doh packages and the Schylling website say that the gel inside the Nice Cube is “Maltose” or “100% Malt Extract” (a type of sugar made from barley) and the Nee-Doh “Groovy Glob” contains polyvinyl alcohol gel, also known as PVA, a common ingredient in glues and cosmetic products. Schylling says on its website that PVA is “used as a coating in pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements.”
Schylling, which makes and sells Nee Doh, disputes CR’s testing that found the contents of the “Groovy Glob” to be highly acidic.
When CR sent questions to the company, the company’s CEO, Paul Weingard responded that our finding that one of the products had an acidic pH is “unsupported by Schylling’s specifications [and] high-quality records.” He said that the high acidity could have been a result of contamination or chemical alteration from CR’s testing process itself (CR disagrees with this assessment), but also added that even if the pH results were correct, that alone would not have caused such severe skin irritation.
Weingard reiterated that the “Groovy Glob” contains PVA, which the cosmetic industry has determined is safe for skin contact, and that the “Nice Cube” is made of food-grade maltose, which is similarly safe and commonly used in both food and cosmetics. Weingard said that neither of these Nee Doh ingredients would be capable of burning skin at room temperature–implying that the incidents we saw reported must have involved higher heat.
Weingard also said that the company has been communicating with the CPSC since the injuries were reported to the agency, and said that after the sale of 100 million Nee-Doh units, there have only been a handful of reports to the CPSC.
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