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Halloween Glo Stick Explodes On Child

Safer To Wear Than Play With

POSTED: 9:17 pm CDT October 17, 2005
UPDATED: 12:19 pm CDT October 18, 2005

Glo Sticks are a popular item in the weeks surrounding Halloween.

Kids wear or take them along to help them standout on a dark street while trick-or-treating.

But the popular Glo Sticks pose a safety risk.

Saturday, 6-year-old Jacques Frank-Loron was hurt after a Glo Stick exploded in his face.

"He screamed for about 30 minutes straight," said Jacques mother Rhonda Frank-Loron. "I thought my kid was going to go blind."

Jaques was playing with the lit Glo Stick when it cracked.

"It cracked and then one second I saw it coming down at me and I closed my eyes and it was stinging like crazy," said the boy.

"We went into the bathroom and dad started washing my face," said Jacques. "My mom told me to go into the shower and pour water on my eyes for 20 minutes."

At the same time his mom called the Poison Control Center.

The Poison Control Center said they receive one to two calls a week about Glo Sticks breaking, more during the fall holidays when the sticks are popular.

Since the Glo Sticks can break easily, one poison education expert said parents should change how the sticks are used this Halloween.

"If you took it and twisted it around the costume the child would be visible because it would glow in the dark, but it's not likely to be put in the mouth or broken so that they would get it into their eyes," said poison education coordinator Donna Lotzer.

Which is exactly what Jacques plans to do this Halloween.

"I think I'll wear them but I don't think I'll fiddle with them anymore," he said.

Lotzer says warm water is the best remedy if a child gets Glo Stick chemicals in the eyes.

She advises against using eye drops such as Visine saying it would only temporarily make the child feel better and not flush out the chemical.



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