Viral social media posts are encouraging children and teens to microwave squishy toys, which can cause serious burns.
Squishy toys – including animal, food, and character-shaped squeeze toys – are widely sold through online marketplaces, social media, discount stores, and other retailers.
Fake and counterfeit versions that don’t comply with federal safety requirements for children’s toys, including requirements addressing water beads, small parts, lead, phthalates, and other hazardous substances are being sold, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, said in a statement.
Online videos may show the toys expanding, changing texture, or bursting when heated. These demonstrations are dangerous and should never be attempted or imitated, the CPSC warns.
Some squishy toys contain water beads or other gels, liquids, powders, or sand. If the outer covering tears or bursts, children may be exposed to the contents. Water beads can expand after being swallowed and cause intestinal blockages, choking, aspiration, or injuries when inserted into the nose or ear. Other unknown filling materials may present chemical exposure, inhalation, or ingestion hazards.
Fake and counterfeit squishy toys may also:
- Break or tear during use, releasing small parts or hazardous filling material.
- Contain excessive levels of hazardous chemicals.
- Fail to comply with federal requirements on water beads.
- Lack required warnings, age grading, tracking information, or manufacturer identification.
- Be sold without the testing and certification required for children’s products.
The CPSC has stopped shipments of squishy toys from entering the country and issued notices of violation to companies responsible for importing or selling noncompliant products.
The CPSC advises consumers to stop using any squishy toy that has an unknown manufacturer, lacks required safety information, has a strong chemical odor, feels oily or unusually sticky, is leaking, or can be torn apart easily.
Squishy toys can also become dangerously hot when left in direct sunlight, inside a hot vehicle, near a heater, or in another high-temperature environment. Heated toys can burst and release material that can cause severe burns. Because the filling may be sticky and adhere to the skin, it can continue transferring heat and worsen the injury.
How to spot a fake and keep children safe
- Know the seller.
- Beware of bargains.
- Check the packaging and avoid products with misspelled words, with poor-quality printing, and that are missing manufacturer or importer information.
- Inspect the toy regularly.
- Keep damaged toys away from children.
- Keep toys away from heat.
