When Fun Toys Kill: The Products Liability Case Against Water Beads

Water beads are sold for children as toys, educational materials, art materials, sensory tools, and as projectiles for “gel blaster” guns. Adults use them as decorative, crafting and gardening supplies. When these small, colorful beads are swallowed by children, they do not simply get digested and pass through a child’s body. Instead, they absorb fluids and expand to many times their original size, potentially causing serious injuries and death.

This article, written by Alan M. Feldman, Daniel J. Mann and Edward S. Goldis and published in The New Jersey Law Journal, reviews the dangers of water beads and explores key legal strategies for plaintiffs’ attorneys in water bead ingestion cases.