Pesticides alert on slime craze
IT is the biggest craze since loom bands two years ago, but thousands of children are putting their health at risk by making and swapping home-made polymer slime – the key ingredient of which is a pesticide that may damage fertility and cause serious eye irritation.
There are fears that youngsters will end up in hospital if borax – the chemical behind the slime, which can be bought online – gets into their eyes or lungs.
The EU’s European Chemicals Agency has labelled borax ‘toxic to reproduction’ and warned that anyone exposed to high levels may give birth to babies with faulty genes later in life.
Used in school experiments, chemistry teachers dilute borax to a level at which it is 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. Children compete to make the best slimes, to sell to each other for up to £10 a pot.
Steve Jones, director of the School 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 are exposing yourself to something classified as toxic.’ The Mail on Sunday legally ordered borax on eBay from Bio Aquatek in Stoke-on-Trent. When it arrived, the 1kg (2.2lb) 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, of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: ‘While it’s fun for children, as with any experiment it is important to take health and safety seriously.’