Five kinds of ‘slime’ toys found with excessive boron levels

Five kinds of ‘slime’ toys found with excessive boron levels

2025-07-30

A new kind of sticky "slime" toy has become popular over the past few years among kids from preschoolers to junior high students. But parents should be cautious. The Taichung Legal Affairs Bureau recently tested some of these toys and found excessive amounts of boron in five of them. One of the products, an extreme "fizz slime" from China, exceeded legal levels by 8.6 times, potentially posing a health risk.

Kids hold some “slime” in their hands. As much as they stretch it, it doesn’t break. It has a unique feel that people find appealing. It’s just a toy, but the wrong one might be hazardous.

Wu Kuan-min
Taichung consumer ombudsman
At the moment, Taiwan’s standards for boron in slime toys is under 300mg per kilogram. The highest level we found in this inspection was 2,400mg.

The Taichung Legal Affairs Bureau tested different slime toys on the market. Nearly half of them failed.

Parent
It’s best if you don’t even sell toys with this material in it. Children can easily get allergic reactions on their skin. You have to be careful.

Parent
My child loved playing with it when he was little. If I knew about the boron levels, I wouldn’t have let him play with it.

Excessive boron can not only irritate the skin, but if eaten, it can cause gastrointestinal discomfort, nausea, diarrhea, and in severe cases, shock.

Chao Ming-wei
Toxicologist
Consumption over a long period of time could cause reproductive toxicity in boys, making them smaller and less developed. If a pregnant woman accidentally ingests it, it could also cause fetal toxicity, resulting in poor development. The newborn may also have some damage to its reproductive system.

A study from South Korea found that children who play with slime are 5.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with peripheral precocious puberty than those who don’t. Parents are advised to be careful of the toys they buy.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#slime #toy #childrenstoy #boron #reproductiveissue #toxin #publicsafety

台中抽驗史萊姆黏土 5款硼元素超標"最高達8.6倍"

2025-07-30

近幾年，不少中小學生、甚至是幼兒園孩童，流行玩一種類似液態黏土的玩具"史萊姆"，只不過家長要注意了! 台中市法制局，抽查市面販售的史萊姆，發現有5款產品"硼"超標，其中由一款來自中國的極限起泡膠，超標最多，高達8.6倍，恐有傷身之虞！

小朋友拿起史萊姆，往上拉一拉，Q彈Q彈又不會斷，特殊觸感，讓人感到好舒壓，只不過玩歸玩，小心買錯了可能反而造成傷害。

[[台中市消保官吳冠民]]
"目前我們國家對於，史萊姆黏土當中的硼元素的檢測規範，是要求每公斤不得超過300毫克，這次最高超標的，高達2400毫克"

台中市法制局抽查市面販售的史萊姆，不合格律將近5成。

[[家長]]
"有這種元素的玩具，最好是不要賣啦，因為小朋友的皮膚很容易過敏，還是要注意啦"

[[家長]]
"之前我小孩，小的時候也蠻喜歡玩的，知道(硼超標)的話，一定不會再讓他玩這個啊"

過量的硼元素，不僅可能導致皮膚紅腫，不慎誤食，還會造成腸胃不適、噁心、腹瀉，嚴重點甚至可能休克。

[[毒理專家招名威]]
"(長期食用)小男生的身體裡面，可能會造成生殖的毒性，變得比較小，發育不良，如果說間接導致孕婦，如果說不小心攝取到的話，也有可能會造成胎兒的毒性，可能就會發育不良，出生的小朋友，可能也會有一些生殖上面的損傷"

韓國的研究報告，指出玩史萊姆的小孩，被診斷出「周邊型性早熟」的機率，比起沒玩的，還要高出5.5倍，家長選購玩具，可得好好把關。

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Chung Tun-hao
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Chung Tun-hao
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