Oct 26, 2007 11:19 pm US/Central
Cleaning Up The Controversy On Magic Erasers
(WCCO)
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A specialist with Minnesota Poison Control said the burn you get from a magic eraser is not a chemical burn, but rather a friction burn.
CBS
We
all get e-mails someone's forwarded to our personal accounts. At WCCO, we get them too, and in September of
this year, we got one again and again.
It
claimed a Scotchbrite Easy Eraser had chemically burned a child. The company,
3M, makes it. The e-mail showed a picture of the child with burns on his body.
Other
companies make a similar eraser and actually market them for getting marks off
walls, floors and doors, not people.Mary
Sears, a mom who lives in the Twin Cities area, got the same e-mail that
WCCO-TV got at the station. She and her daughter Katie use household erasers
all the time."I kind of used it with a grain of salt that you always do when
you get a forwarded e-mail," she said.
Looking to see if there was truth to the e-mail, WCCO-TV found the
mother whose child is pictured in the e-mail. She said her local Poison Control told
her that her son likely had an alkaline burn from the eraser rubbed on his
skin.The
Minnesota Poison Control disagrees. A
specialist said it's not a chemical burn."It's a friction burn.
So when you're moving something too quick, going back and forth and it's
actually causing friction, because it's a little piece of sandpaper, basically,
and it's physically causing irritation to the surface of your skin," said
Kirk Hughes, with Minnesota Poison Control.
He
said he's gotten calls from parents who have used the product to remove marks
not just on their walls, but on their children too.
"There is no real chemical additive to this, other than the
chemicals made to manufacture the actual sponge itself. There is nothing
poisonous or toxic about it," Hughes said.An eraser is a lot like a piece of sandpaper. Its abrasive qualities make it work, not what
it's made of. Because of how it's made,
it's able to get inside even the tiniest surface cracks to remove marks. The
product is not toxic.
"Takes crayon off walls really well, and not so well off a kid's
arm," said Hughes.
3M
makes that Scotchbrite Easy Eraser, the one the boy in the picture used. A 3M spokesperson
said her company's product is safe when parents and children use it the way the
directions say to use it. Parents, she
said, need to read the warning label.
Other
companies, like Procter and Gamble which sells a similar Mr. Clean Magic
Eraser, have stepped up their warnings.
In
a statement, Procter and Gamble said in 2005, labeling was changed to caution
against use on skin or other parts of the body.
Target,
which manufactures a generic eraser said, "We are aware of the concerns
regarding similar products and are updating our label."
"The bottom line here is you really need to supervise your
child, you know, and keep things that need to be out of reach out of reach,"
said Hughes.
That's
exactly what they do at the Sears' house.
When art is over, the marker comes off and the sponge goes away.
"It's a great product, I have no problem with the product, but
... like with any cleaning product, I wouldn't let my child have it," Sears
said.
If
your child burns themselves with an eraser, here's what you should do,
according to specialists with the Minnesota Poison Control. Wipe the area with
mild soap and water, and then apply an over-the-counter antibiotic cream.
You
can also contact specialists with the Minnesota Poison Control on your own. The number is 1-800-222-1222.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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