Chinese police and newspapers are warning parents to be aware of the dangers of stink bombs in the latest wave of hysteria over schoolchildren's safety that never seems to end.
The "Anti-Four Pests" branch of the PSB and the People's Daily are among those sounding the alarm over the schoolyard popularity of stink bombs, a "new kind of toy" responsible for causing injury to a girl this season.
Video reports show the stink bombs explode with such force that they are capable of tearing a hole in a sheet of paper, conclusively proving that they deserve their label as "dangerous" items.
With their loud bang followed by an acrid odor, Chinese children have taken a liking to stink bombs for their ability to offer a cheap and effective scare while parents and media have demonized the store-bought prank for its hidden dangers.
But while the Chinese backlash may seem disproportionate for something that is nothing more than a novelty item in the West, the reaction is nothing less than overwrought when you consider that Chinese media have been crying wolf over stink bombs for over a decade, always with the same familiar warning.
Stink bombs were reported as a "new" toy that was both "poisonous" and "dangerous" last year, the year before that, and even in 2014 when QQ News said they contain "dangerous chemicals." Beyond incidents in 2012 and 2010, stink bombs posed a threat to public safety all the way back to 2003.
And the numbers back it up. Stink bombs are responsible for hospitalizing 37 schoolchildren in Chengdu and 79 students in Taihe, Anhui when they showed symptoms like nausea and vomiting.
That does sound very serious, and public safety shouldn't be taken lightly. And yet, the Chinese media's ability to label stink bombs as a "new" threat year after year makes it seem like this backlash is more clickbait than anything else.
In circumstances like an enclosed room, a stink bomb could very well cause someone to become nauseous; it can also cause someone to become extremely uncomfortable because ... well, that's literally what they're designed to do. And as for the injuries responsible for this year's stink bomb backlash, Mrs. Li said her daughter injured herself from falling down from the scare of the stink bomb, and not from its concoction of chemicals.
Although chemistry may be a topic out of hand for laymen, some Chinese reports have explained the science behind this "big bang scare." These stink bombs usually contain a powder and a bagged liquid (likely hydrogen carbonate and sodium sulfide) that form hydrogen sulfide when the seal between the two is broken with force.
And yet, the rational explanation gets muddled when these reports take a less-than-scientific approach. Scientists seen in one video conclude that the 50 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide released by a stink bomb are hazardous to humans, but they take the reading inside an enclosed case that can barely fit a human skull.
In another video, a TV host proudly proves that stink bomb emissions cause laboratory mice to become lethargic by simultaneously setting off dozens of them, likely more than the average Chinese child can even afford.
With a past that includes its use as a chemical weapon in World War I, hydrogen sulfide is a potent compound that has been involved in numerous incidents. And yet, chemicals need not remain as a perpetually unknown quantity that causes panic and fear.
Alas, stink bombs haven't been the only thing to threaten the safety of children this year. Children have been banned from using toothpick crossbows earlier this summer as were long periods of playtime on the world's most popular (and lucrative) mobile game, Kings of Glory.
But who has time to remember all these things in this fast-paced world, one with no place for the nostalgic thrill of boiling an egg and leaving it under the sun? If only that simple world could be ours again.
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Twitter: @Sinopath
E-mail: charlesliu1@qq.com