Avoid this deadly toy this holiday season

[Consumer Reports]   Dear Friend, As you do your toy shopping for the kids and grandkids this Black Friday and beyond, Consumer Reports is recommending you NOT BUY dangerous water bead toys – and that you urge your friends and family to avoid them as well. These tiny gel beads, which grow to the size of a marble or golf ball in water, are marketed as safe. But they can easily be swallowed by accident and get lodged in internal organs or intestines – leading to horrific internal injuries and death. No toy is worth this risk! We’re calling on Congress to pass the Ban Water Beads Act and get these dangerous products off the market ASAP. [Will you join us by urging your Congressmember to support this bill now?](  [Send an Email Now »](  After you take action, please share this message with anyone you know who will be buying toys for kids this holiday season, so they know about the dangers of water beads. Let’s keep everyone safe for the holidays! Sincerely, Meg BohneConsumer Reports --------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Friend, Tens of thousands of you recently joined CR in demanding that a dangerous toy be banned from the market that has hospitalized numerous children with horrific injuries. And thanks to your efforts, we just took a HUGE leap forward in getting water bead toys off store shelves! A bill is being introduced this week in Congress to ban the sale of water beads. Our leaders heard you – now, we need to finish the job and get this bill passed quickly to protect our kids. [Send a message right now to your member of Congress to ban water beads.Â]( quick email will help save lives!  [Send an Email Now »](  These tiny gel balls, sold by huge retailers like Walmart, Target and Amazon, are packaged in the thousands and look like cupcake sprinkles or candy. But in water, they can grow to the size of a marble or golf ball — and when accidentally swallowed by curious babies or toddlers, they can cause havoc, lodging in organs and intestines, causing serious internal injuries and even death. Despite CR’s investigation and growing evidence of the toy’s dangers – at least 7,800 ER visits in the past seven years – they are still being marketed as safe to unsuspecting parents. Consumer activist Ashley Haugen—founder of [That Water Bead Lady]( who joined with us to deliver over 100,000 petition signatures to ban the beads—knows their dangers all too well. When her daughter was just 13 months old, she found and swallowed some water beads, which expanded in her intestine and required emergency surgery to remove. Now age 7, her daughter still struggles with health challenges from the ordeal. Together, we can make sure no more families suffer from this dangerous product. [Send a quick email to your member of Congress to pass this bill now – saving kids’ lives is a bipartisan issue!](  [Send an Email Now »]( Thank you for joining us in the important safety action. Please share this email with anyone you know who may have a baby or toddler, and urge them to send their own message. We can protect kids and get this known danger off the market. Meg BohneConsumer Reports [Unsubscribe from Consumer Reports action alerts.]( © 2022 Consumer Reports, 101 Truman Avenue, Yonkers, NY, 10703 [Contact Consumer Reports](