Water beads are a colorful, fun, popular, and widely available product found in children’s toys, stress squeeze balls, arts and crafts supplies, plant hydration products, air fresheners, and first aid ice packs.
These jelly-like small super-absorbent polymer balls are similar to the material found in diapers and absorb water expanding 100-800 percent of original size.
Pediatric ingestion is by far the most common poisoning exposure route but insertion into ears and nose and aspiration can occur and has led to serious adverse effects. More than 8000 water bead-related ingestion injuries have been treated in U.S. Emergency Departments.
Over the past 10 years, U.S. Poison Centers reported 19,660 exposures with 55% occurring in 2023 alone. In the majority of cases, no clinical effects (~88%) were seen, however in >11% of cases mild to moderate effects (abdominal discomfort, nausea, and vomiting) were reported and severe effects including complete bowel obstruction, necrosis, and surgical intervention in 0.11%. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported at least one death of a 10-month-old girl in 2023 due to water bead ingestion.
Ingested water beads quickly pass into the small intestines where they continue to expand over the next few days and can become large enough (especially in children less than 2 year of age) to be unable to pass through the ileocecal valve causing small bowel obstruction requiring surgical intervention.
There is little data to guide management after ingestion. The majority of cases have no clinical effects and home observation is appropriate for asymptomatic for patients greater than 2 years. Recommendations from a report of case series and literature review , in patients less than 2 years of age with evidence of ingestion and symptomatic patients include hospitalization, imaging with US or CT, and close monitoring. CT, ultrasound, and endoscopy are not 100% reliable and often do not visualize these intraluminal foreign bodies.
In December 2025, the CPSC approved new federal safety standards for water beads toys setting limits on maximum expansion size of beads and amount of allowable acrylamide.
Risks of Water Bead Ingestion. Reeves PT, Pasman EA Pediatrics February 2025; 155 (2): e2024069447. 10.1542/peds.2024-069447
Water bead injuries by children presenting to emergency departments 2013-2023: An expanding issue. ?Pasman EA, Khan MA, et al. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2024 Sep;79(3):752-757. doi: 10.1002/jpn3.12333. Epub 2024 Jul 24. PMID: 39045753.
Pediatric water bead-related visits to United States emergency departments, Joynes HJ, Kistamgari S, et al. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 84, 2024, Pages 81-86, ISSN 0735-6757, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2024.07.048.
Water beads: Expanding toy and ‘new’ problem for paediatric surgeons and community. Bollettini, T., Mogiatti, M., et al. J Paediatr Child Health, 61: 204-208. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.16730
Aspiration of superabsorbent polymer beads resulting in focal lung damage: a case report. Alharbi N, Dabbour M. BMC Pediatr. 2020 May 29;20(1):262. doi: 10.1186/s12887-020-02168-9. PMID: 32471401; PMCID: PMC7257448.
