DUBAI: Parents have called for a complete ban on slime toys over health and safety concerns.
Last month, three slime toy products - So-Squishy Slime, Magic Crystal Mud, and Glitter Slime - were banned from UAE shelves after Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) deemed them “poisonous to children” if swallowed or touched.
Parents said the ban should be extended to all brands of slime toys.
Natasha Knowles, a mother of two, said she was alarmed when she found a cheap variety of slime toy in her daughter’s school bag.
“She had bought it from the grocery store for her sister who is just two years old. I dread to think what could have happened if the little one had swallowed it. It’s time they are banned completely,” said Natasha.
Another mother, Roma Singh, said she was concerned about the safety of her five-year-old child after seeing him playing with a slime toy. “As it turned out it, the gooey thing belonged to a kid in the neighbourhood,” she said,
“Choking on slimes is very common. Children especially are at an increased risk because of the small size of their windpipe,” said Dr Dhiraj Sidagonda Shedabale, specialist paediatrician at Zulekha Hospital, Dubai.
Slime toys often contain mineral borax which could cause poisoning if ingested. A report by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission claims 217,000 kids are treated in emergency rooms for toy-related injuries every year in the US.
