Effective December 22, 2023, the sale of water beads for use by children will be prohibited in Amazon’s US and Canada stores as they can pose a life-threatening safety hazard if they are swallowed.

Water beads are super-absorbent polymer spheres of different sizes and colors that expand to many times their original size when exposed to moisture. They are known by many names, including sensory beads, jelly beads, water orbs, hydro orbs, polymer beads and gel beads. Water beads provide water to plants and animals, and they’re also marketed as toys and learning aids for children.

If you sell water beads that indicate any association with children, you should remove those product listings.

In the interest of safety, Amazon will remove any product listings for water beads if they:

• Refer to children, or use terms such as "child," "kids," "youth," "boys" or "girls"
• Include images of children with the product
• Describe their use as a toy or use terms such as "sensory play," "arts" or "crafts"

These criteria are not exhaustive.

If you believe that your product has been removed in error, submit the following information to highrisk-childsafety@amazon.com:

• A list of the ASINs that you believe have been misclassified
• An explanation of why you believe that the ASINs have been misclassified
• Evidence to demonstrate that the ASINs have been misclassified

For more information, go to Water beads.