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Danger: Please Read especially parents

deleted_user
deleted_user
THis is non BP related but I think very important. I was just given a letter from my manager of my apartment complex with pictures included. It was of a little boy maybe 5 or 6 that had suffered sever burns from the Magic Eraser cleaning sponge. Apparently they contain some very dangerous chemicals that if rubbed on the skin can cause sever burns. The 5 year old suffered from burns on his cheaks and forarms. The poison control center told her that this has happened to many people and walked her throught stopping the burn and then took a trip to the hospital.

The packages have no lable on them that state that they can cause such burns and that they need to be used with care. They have no smell and do not list any ingrediants (yet any way) they look like harmless sponges. Please be careful when using them and apparently dont let kids use them unsupervised. I dont know how much rubbing or contact with the skin you have to have to get the burns as I have used them and love them much. But then I dont rub them on my skin either.

I just wanted to pass the info around so that our little ones could stay safe from an item that seems so harmless.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Thanks Kaylebug! I use them all the time here! Now I know they have to be put up with the other harmful stuff! That is so scary!!
deleted_user
deleted_user
did they rub them on their skin?? Oh my goodness THanks for the info. Never would have even thought of it
dobiedots
dobiedots
It's an Urban Myth.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I've used them bare-handed with no ill effects. They're just micro-sponges with dish detergent in them.
deleted_user
deleted_user
yeah i got this in my regular email a little while back... very good of u to put in on here.. scary stuff! the picture of it was nasty stuff!
dobiedots
dobiedots
Please look it up. Its an urban myth.
deleted_user
deleted_user
No I actually called posion control myself to ask and they confirmed it... they contain alkaline (base chemical-opposite of acid on the ph scale) and thats what can cause the burn.

I am thinking from the pictures that the little boy rubbed them on his cheaks... which is not far off for a kid to do. He had colored on his arms and was rubbing the sponge on his arms as well. I am guessing you have to acutally rub a bunch but its still better to be safe then sorry
dobiedots
dobiedots
I'll let Snopes know. This is a serious matter.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I agree dobie. I don't take things like this lightly, so I go on the internet when I read about chemical burns from things that have no chemicals in them. These are melamine sponges that work by "erasing" miniscule layers of whatever you are cleaning. Since this is where most of the stains are, they vanish. The child in question simply erase some layers of skin, much like a carpet burn.
dobiedots
dobiedots
carpet burns are no big deal.
deleted_user
deleted_user
poison control also told me that the sponges contain formaldahide and there for are an irritant.... it could be that if used improperly that the sponge is an irritant to some people and or can cause a large degree of irritation or burn to sensitive skin (which kids skin is more sensitive)

Plus adults dont tend to rub the sponges on the more sensitive areas like faces or forearms.
hablur
hablur
Ok I looked this up at Snopes. It is untrue that it containes formaldahyde but very true that it can hurt a child by rubbing on skin. Read the full story here:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/eraser.asp

Since it covers two stories in one it inaccurately says false at the top of snopes.. it should be false for the first part and true for the second.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Well I think just to be on the safe side I am gonna go with what the Poison control center tells me and keep them away from my daughter... They Ususally (not always) have the most up to date information about things concidered harmful and how to treat the situation
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