The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has approved a new product safety standard for water bead toys. Water beads are small, colorful balls made of super-absorbent polymers that can grow up to 100 times their original size when exposed to water.

  • CPSC defines a water bead as a “various shaped liquid absorbent polymer, composed of materials such as, but not limited to, polyacrylamide and polyacrylate, which expands when soaked in liquid.”

Water beads are also known as jelly beads, hydro orbs, crystal soil and gel beads, and they are sold as toys, in craft kits or as sensory tools for children (as well as for use in vases and gardens). They can be dried and reused, and often the dried and shrunken state poses the greatest hazard.

Because water beads look like candy, young children may be tempted to swallow them or put the beads in their ears or nose. The orbs are often not visible in X-rays and other medical imaging, making it difficult to diagnose if one has been swallowed, inserted or inhaled.

  • CPSC data show that nearly 7,000 water bead-related ingestion injuries were treated in emergency departments in the U.S. from 2018 through 2022, and a 10-month-old girl died from a water bead injury in 2023.

Just one water bead can cause harm, warns That Water Bead Lady, a children’s product safety advocacy group focused on these items. “Today is a historic victory for children and product safety. I intend to monitor the implementation of this lifesaving action and will remain a tireless advocate to ensure water bead toys never show back up in the United States,” said Ashley Haugen, president of That Water Bead Lady, on the group’s homepage following the announcement of the new rule.

The new CPSC rule does not ban water beads outright but places limits on their size and composition, and requires clear warning labels:

  • Sets a maximum expansion size limit for water bead toys to prevent them from becoming large enough to cause blockages if ingested, and other injuries if inserted into an ear or nose; or aspirated.
  • Establishes limits on the amount of allowable acrylamide to reduce toxicity risks.
  • Requires strongly worded, easily seen warning labels to caution consumers.

This rule takes effect 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.

While a quick product search reveals no water bead toys in promo, there are plenty of brandable products that contain gel beads, such as ice packs, eye masks or stress balls. Some of these products are available as smaller, handheld items shaped like animals and decorated with fun faces, which may appeal to children.

Although these may not be marketed as children’s toys and would thus fall outside the scope of this rule, distributors should be mindful of the potential risk and advise clients and end users to keep products containing gel beads away from children.

Additional CPSC Resources: 

For questions or suggestions on regulatory or government affairs issues, please contact Rachel Zoch, PPAI’s public affairs manager, at RachelZ@ppai.org.