Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 12:48:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: Sheena Beaverson <sbeavers@balloonhq.com>
To: balloondeco@balloonhq.com
Subject: re: balloon safety

Hi Larry,

> Since we can't (easily?) dislodge a balloon that does get into a kids
> wind pipe, how about a balloon that could dissolve under the right
> conditions? Saliva partially digests our food, so maybe it could digest
> the right kind of balloon also.  Or maybe a safe chemical that could
> react with the latex in someone's mouth

That's an interesting idea, I'm sure that there are doctors out there who
could comment better than I can.  But, how effective could something like
that be?  How calm is a child or adult while choking, to be able to find
the little bottle of whatever it is and get it down a blocked wind-pipe.
Normal swallowing would be out (right?), and probably wouldn't help in any
case... when you're choking, it's because something 'went down the wrong
pipe'. So, being able to swallow while choking really wouldn't combat the
problem anyway.

What was the old brand of balloons that used to shatter upon breakage into
tons of little bitty pieces?  Perhaps we need balloons that don't break
into particles large enough to block a windpipe.  Of course, then you've
just inhaled lots of little latex pieces... what would that do to a person
that inhaled them... since I assume most of the choking problems arise
from putting an inflated balloon in the mouth and having it pop, rather
than chewing on an un-inflated balloon because the colors look tasty and
you don't have any gum.

So, how to you design a balloon that shatters that isn't an inherently
weaker balloon overall?  (if entertainers/ doecorators won't buy it,
what's the use in manufacturing it?)  I just remember having problems with
the garbage bags that are biodegradable... in circumstances when you still
wanted them to be durable and resilient, they were already weakening and
biodegrading.  (bad for taking soil samples).

Envelope glue tastes pretty nasty... and if the balloons were already
sticky, then we wouldn't need to apply so many glue dots.

- Sheena