If you think back to the time when you were in grade school, you probably remember a few people who followed fads. Of course, I’m being somewhat facetious because we all tended to follow the crowd and regardless of what they were doing, we wanted to do it just as good or perhaps even better. Those fads change from time to time and today, it is creating homemade slime. Perhaps your children are doing this as well.
This is a craze that has become so popular that ‘homemade slime” parties are even taking place. A bunch of kids will get together and make up their own batch of goo, trying to outdo each other with the consistency, colors and even the sparkles that they put in it. As it turns out, it is no longer a little bit of harmless fun and the schoolyard craze has now turned dangerous. Parents and teachers are sounding the warning that children really need to stay away from this.
Kathleen Quinn suffered third-degree burns while making homemade slime at a sleepover party last year and the news went viral.
Her mother said that she was using Elmers school glue and sodium borate (Borax) to make the slime and her hands started to feel tingly and hot.
“She was crying in pain. ‘My hands hurt; my hands hurt!’ And we looked at them and they were covered in blisters.”
Her parents rushed her to the doctor and, because of the extended exposure to the borax, her hands were burned.
James Dickerson, chief scientific officer of Consumer Reports said “It’s [borax] a material that is known to be an irritant to the eyes and to the breathing passages and nasal cavities, respiratory tracts. And it can be an irritant to the skin.”
It’s sad to say but this is not an unusual story. Parents everywhere are beginning to speak out about the injuries their children experienced when dealing with borax.
Another incident happened in Manchester, UK. Their child suffered chemical burns after playing with homemade slime that had borax as one of the ingredients. Her mother said: “She is an avid YouTuber and came to ask if she could make some slime. Within 48 hours, her skin had started to peel off. From there it got worse.”
The little girl ended up having to go to a plastic surgeon because of the severity of her burns.
These stories were made public last year but there are still many children who are suffering the consequences. In late July, a six-year-old spent three days in the hospital after playing with slime made by his kindergarten teacher.
An online recipe was used that included contact lens solution, which typically has Boron compounds. His mother said, “I could have lost my son.”
A little 10-year-old girl named Layla Fisher was also severely burned about the same time because of contact lens solution in slime.
“It’s a real craze with kids that age,” said her mother, Gemma Wilson. “They play about with it, stick their fingers in it, pull it around and then put it in a container. She had open sores on her hands and the skin was just peeling off her fingers. It was horrible. A small patch had spread to her face and arm. It was then we were told she had impetigo.”
Many of the online recipes that claim they don’t use borax still use ingredients that may contain borax. If you do want to make slime, find a recipe that only uses cornstarch and shampoo.
“It’s something that should be used solely for its intended purpose as a cleaner or a laundry booster, not as something for children, particularly, young children, to play around with in making things like slime.”
You can see Kathleen’s story in this video: