Warning: Do Not Taunt Water Yo-Yo

From today's New York Times:

Albert Figueroa cannot say if the water yo-yo is a danger or just a letdown. The 11-year-old, who boasts of having had 25 water yo-yos, has often seen the rubbery, liquid-filled balls burst. Sometimes the yo-yos exploded after he threw them against his school building. Other times, he said, they would simply start leaking in his hand after too many squeezes.

In any case, what was left was often a deflated ball and a handful of foul-smelling liquid.

No one is sure what kind of liquid is inside a water yo-yo, which sells for about dollar and became a must-have toy this year. On Thursday, the New York State Consumer Protection Board, which cannot ban the toy, urged stores to stop selling the yo-yos and parents to stop buying them.

The board's chairwoman, Teresa Santiago, said that as of Friday, the board had received three complaints involving children in New York City: one child choked on the rubbery cord that attaches to the yo-yo's liquid-filled ball, another child drank the liquid and got sick, and a third child's eyes were irritated when the liquid got in her eyes.

Ms. Santiago said that the State Department of Health was analyzing the liquid in several yo-yos. Some yo-yos are filled with a creamy substance, while others contain a clear liquid and glitter.

"We don't know what this water is," she said. "At this point no one should be buying this."

The water yo-yos are usually imported from China or Taiwan, and packaged in clear bags without warning labels, the Consumer Protection Board said Thursday.

Rumor has it that the manufacturers are considering adding the following warning label to their product:

CAUTION:
Water Yo-Yo may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.

Water Yo-Yo contains a liquid core, which if exposed due to rupture should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.

Article Author: Ross

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