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Kathleen Quinn, 11 years old, likes to spend her afternoon making slimes that she learned or watched from do-it-yourself videos posted on YouTube. Kathleen, who’s from Rockland, Massachusetts, followed a video that used cleaning supplies and while she was playing with her slime, her hands start to burn.
According to CBS News, Kathleen suffered devastating third-degree burns after she played with the slime made out of water, Elmer’s glue, and Borax, which is a cleaning product. She said that her hands started to feel “hot and tingly” after she combined all three products to make a slime at their kitchen table.
Siobhan Quinn, Kathleen’s mother, told CBS, “She was like crying in pain, ‘My hands hurt, my hands hurt. And we looked at them and they were covered in blisters.”
Kathleen was immediately taken to the local hospital where doctors said that she got her devastating burns after her skin was extremely exposed Borax, according to CBS.
Sodium borate, or Borax, is commonly used to clean dirty households. The labels in these containers warn users and customers that the substance shouldn’t be taken and to keep it away from their eyes.
James Dickerson, Consumer Reports Chief Scientific Officer, told People, “It’s not designed to be a component for household projects like making slime. It’s a material that is known to be an irritant to the eyes and to the breathing passages and nasal cavities, respiratory tracts. And it can be an irritant to skin.”
Dickerson continued, “So we believe that it’s something that should be used solely for its intended purpose as a cleaner or a laundry booster, not as something for children, particularly, young children, to play around with in making things like slime.”
Making slimes on your own had become the newest trend in households in terms of keeping kids busy. The sales of Elmer’s glue had increased due to this trend.
A mother from UK had shared her issues with the danger or risk of making these slimes on Facebook.
She wrote, “My little Queen has been making slime off YouTube … they call it Unicorn Slime or Tie Dye Slime, crazy names, all in really pretty and funky colors. I went and bought DeeJay all the ingredients and let her make it. 3 weeks later we are looking at plastic surgery on her hands from a burns department at Hospital.”
According to CBS News, borax has to be diluted immensely and safely to be even considered as an ingredient for a slime.
