From ‘butt chugging’ and ‘eyeballing’ to the Blue Whale suicide challenge, there seems to be no end to the level of ignorance teens are willing to stoop to for a few clicks and laughs, at the expense of their lives.
A government watchdog has now issued a warning about a dangerous new trend that is sweeping the Internet: “The Tide Pod Challenge.”
The social media fad is encouraging teens to record themselves popping the poisonous detergent packs in their mouths.
Procter & Gamble has long warned that the products are highly dangerous, and not to be toyed with under ANY circumstances.
“They should not be played with,” a company spokesperson told CBS News. “Even if meant as a joke. Safety is no laughing matter.”
Ten deaths related to ingesting the detergent packs have already been reported; eight of them being seniors suffering from dementia and two toddlers.
With their bright and colorful packaging, the pods can look like candy to children.
But there’s nothing sweet about these lethal packets of poison.
Its ingredients? Polymers, ethanol, and hydrogen peroxide for starters—a deadly concoction designed to destroy dirt and grime.
But that’s not stopping teens from jumping on board with the challenge in hopes of wooing peers and attaining viral fame.
“A lot of people were just saying how stupid I was or how – why would I be willing to do that,” 19-year-old Marc Pagan told CBS. “No one should be putting anything like that in their mouths, you know?”
Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Ann Marie Buerkle, expressed serious concern about the risky fad, saying, “This is what started out as a joke on the Internet and now it’s just gone too far.”
Learn more about the “Tide Pod Challenge” in the CBS News exclusive below, and be sure to talk to your teen about the danger of this rising trend.
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