Pesticides alert over children’s slime fad
IT IS the biggest craze since loom bands two years ago, but tens of thousands of children are putting their health in jeopardy by creating and swapping home-made polymer slime – the key ingredient of which is a pesticide that may damage fertility and cause serious eye irritation.
Schools and health experts are now issuing warnings amid fears youngsters will end up in hospital if borax – the chemical behind the slime that can be bought over the internet – gets into their eyes or lungs.
The EU’s European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has labelled borax ‘toxic to reproduction’. In a hazard alert it warned: ‘This substance may damage fertility or the unborn child and causes serious eye irritation.’
Experts said the EU alert means anyone exposed to high levels of borax may give birth to babies with faulty genes later in life.
Used in school experiments, chemistry teachers must dilute borax in solution to a level at which it’s not toxic: 1g of borax in 20ml of water. However making slime at home and selling it to classmates or friends is now a global fad. There are nearly 2 million POPULAR: Slime is all the rage among youngsters posts on social media site Instagram where children compete to make the best slimes that they sell among each other for up to £10 a pot. Steve Jones, director of the schools’ science advisory service, said: ‘Making the slime is what we’re most concerned about, because you’re trying to limit the amount of dust you raise. If you splash it around your kitchen willy-nilly you’re exposing yourself to something classified as toxic.’ The Mail on Sunday was able to legally order borax on eBay from Bio Aquatek Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent, with no questions asked. There were no warnings on the eBay product page. When it arrived, the 1kg of white powder costing £9.38 carried a warning saying: ‘May cause eye and skin irritation, may cause respiratory and digestive tract irritation.’ Duncan McMillan, from the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: ‘The polymer slime experiment is designed to be carried out by or with the supervision of a qualified teacher or responsible adult. And while it’s fun for children, as with any experiment it’s important to take health and safety seriously.’