Hair stylers blamed for baby burns

MOTHERS were last night warned about the dangers of leaving cooling hair straighteners unattended after it emerged that they account for nearly one in ten paediatric burns. The number of youngsters being treated for burns caused by the appliances has more than doubled in recent years, with toddlers most at risk from straighteners that

‘Toddlers are into everything’

have not been properly stored away after use.

Hair straighteners are metal or ceramic plated tongs which can reach temperatures of 235C – hot enough to fry an egg – and take 40 minutes to cool down.

According to a study carried out at the Royal Belfast Hospital, 9 per cent of the children treated for burns have been injured by hair straighteners.

The specialist paediatric burns unit at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, also found that the number of children admitted for burns caused by hair straighteners more than doubled between 2007 and 2011.

Almost half of the injuries were caused by curious toddlers grabbing the appliances, with some of the most serious burns requiring surgery or skin grafts.

Despite this, a survey for the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) found that two-thirds of mothers with children under the age of five fail to use a heat-resistant pouch with their straighteners.

Around a quarter admit to simply leaving the devices on the floor or hanging off a piece of furniture to cool down. ESC spokesman Emma Apter warned mothers that children are more vulnerable to burns as their skin can be 15 times thinner than that of adults.

Katrina Phillips, spokesman for the Child Accident Prevention Trust, explained that some parents were unaware that straighteners reached temperatures as hot as a domestic iron.

She said: ‘Toddlers are into everything but don’t know that heat hurts.

‘We urge parents to keep hair straighteners out of reach of small hands and feet, and store them away safely in a heatproof pouch.’