Water Beads are Deadly

Years after water beads nearly killed Ashley Haugen’s 13-month-old daughter, new research sparked by her case has helped uncover extraordinarily high levels of residual acrylamide in other polyacrylamide hydrogel consumer products.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — October 6, 2026 — It started with dogs becoming mysteriously sick after chewing or ingesting gel from products found in ordinary homes: migraine caps, cooling eye masks, hot-and-cold wraps and cooling pet beds. Some developed tremors. Others struggled to walk, experienced seizures or became extremely sensitive to sound and touch. Some died.

Now, newly published research involving the ASPCA, Product Injury Coalition (formerly That Water Bead Lady), Cambridge Polymer Group and VEG ER for Pets has identified a potential explanation and one that raises questions extending far beyond pets. Researchers investigating 45 dogs with suspected acrylamide toxicosis found extraordinarily high concentrations of residual acrylamide, a potent neurotoxin, in tested polyacrylamide hydrogel products.

For Ashley Haugen, President and Founder of the Product Injury Coalition and a coauthor of the study, the finding was painfully familiar. Nearly ten years prior, Haugen's 13-month-old daughter, Kipley, fell critically ill after swallowing polyacrylamide water beads, a birthday gift her older sister had received months earlier. The beads obstructed her intestine, requiring emergency surgery, and Kipley subsequently developed toxic brain encephalopathy. 

In 2025 Haugen and researchers published Kipley's case in Pediatrics, examining both the intestinal obstruction caused by expanding water beads and the potential role of acrylamide exposure in her neurological injuries. That investigation raised a critical question: What if the problem isn't limited to water beads? What if residual acrylamide is present in other consumer products made with similar polyacrylamide hydrogels? Then dogs began developing striking neurological symptoms after ingesting gel from cooling products.

“When the ASPCA began seeing dogs with neurological symptoms after ingesting these gels, acrylamide immediately stood out because we had already been asking these questions through Kipley's case,” Haugen said. “We tested the products. What we found showed exactly why we need to start looking beyond individual products and examine the materials and manufacturing processes behind them.”

The products may look different, one might be sold as a children's sensory product, another as a migraine cap and another as a cooling bed for a dog but they can rely on related hydrogel materials. That connection matters. Acrylamide is used to manufacture polyacrylamide. If manufacturing does not sufficiently convert or remove unreacted acrylamide, residual monomer can remain in the finished material.

That means a product described or marketed as “nontoxic” may still raise concerns if manufacturing leaves significant residual acrylamide behind. And the implications may not stop with pets. The new study documents poisoning in dogs; it does not establish that children have been poisoned by the cooling products studied. But these products are already inside our homes where babies crawl on floors, toddlers explore with their mouths, and children can encounter leaking or damaged gels. And exposure potential may not be limited to accidental ingestion: people are wearing these products against their bodies and placing them directly on their faces every day. The findings raise an urgent question about what those products contain and whether potential human exposure has been adequately evaluated.

“Kipley's case taught us what question to ask,” Haugen said. “The dogs helped us understand that we may need to ask it much more broadly: How much residual acrylamide is being left behind in polyacrylamide consumer products, and who is actually checking?” The Product Injury Coalition is calling for broader investigation into residual acrylamide in polyacrylamide containing products, including examination of manufacturing processes, supply chains, testing requirements and appropriate limits for residual monomer in finished products.

“I know what it feels like to discover a product hazard through someone you love getting hurt,” Haugen said.” “I wouldn’t wish that education on anyone. Kipley’s injuries gave us questions we never wanted to have to ask. These dogs have given us another reason to keep asking questions. My daughter’s injuries helped show us where to look, and these dogs are telling us to look further. Now, I want researchers and our government to find out how far this problem goes and stop it before another family has to discover the answer through an injured child or a poisoned pet.”