Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 18:36:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: Larry Moss <moss@balloonhq.com>
To: Balloon Twister List <balloon@balloonhq.com>,
Subject: balloon safety

Hi folks,

The issue of safety with balloons comes up here all the time, for obvious
reasons.  We're all concerned about making sure that the stuff we enjoy
and make our livings with never ends up hurting anyone.  

Now I know with that lead-in someone is going to get upset that I'm even
suggesting balloons can hurt anyone.  Don't worry.  I'm on your side.  And
statistics show that of all the things in the world, balloons aren't
exactly one of the more dangerous things.  In fact, if you want the real
facts and statistics, look at the stuff from the Balloon Council:
	http://www.balloonhq.com/BalloonCouncil/
(There's some really cool stuff there including some 5 minute quizzes you
can take to see how much you know about balloons.  You might even want to
direct your clients to it since the information there is presented very
well.)

OK, back to where I was going with this.  I was asked (maybe others here
were also approached) for suggestions on ways of preventing choking deaths
in kids.  What got my attention is that the folks asking made it clear that
the last thing they want to do is ban balloons.  Rather than solving the
problem by eliminating balloons, they want to make balloons safer.  These
guys are saying, "yeah, we know only a couple kids a year choke on
balloons, but let's see if we can prevent even that."  Great, so I wanted
to start a discussion on what we can do.

The obvious answer is to educate everyone.  Every bag of balloons (at least
in the US) has a warning label that says they're a choking hazard.  I
inform parents and kids when performing about the dangers if they're
mistreated.  I have a note on my contracts that state the dangers.  

But, let's take this a step further.  No amount of education will stop
everything.  A while back on the twister list, someone suggested that we
make balloons taste really bad so that the taste will deter kids from
putting them in mouths.  (I asked a kid what taste would deter him from
putting balloons in his mouth.  He said he wouldn't touch anything that
tasted like his school's chicken nuggets.)  Then of course there were the
people that said they like being able to blow them up by mouth and didn't
want this to happen.

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.

Other thoughts?  This question was asked of me by people not in the balloon
industry, so I thought I'd throw it at balloon people to get some
discussion going.  Please, don't tell me that we should educate parents and
then it's there problem if they don't watch their kids.  I think most of us
can agree that parents need to watch their kids better and should assume
the bulk of the responsibility.

I firmly believe balloons are safe and fun.  But I'm with these folks that
want to make them even safer and more fun if that's actually possible.

Larry Moss
BalloonHQ.com