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Yo-yo balls, which are also called a Yo-Yo Water Ball and Water Yo-Yo, are popular toys right now.
 If you are not familiar with them yet, they are probably best described as a water filled ball on a bungee cord that come in many different colors and designs.
Yo-yo balls are inexpensive, squishy, and can be thrown and twirled up to 4-5 feet, and like a yo-yo, it will come back to you.
Although fun to play with, many parents and safety experts are worried that they are unsafe and pose a big risk to kids that play with them.
Among the concerns are that:
- they are made from diesel hydrocarbons and are flammable and so are a fire hazard
- they are poisonous
- they pose a choking hazard, as the rubbery cord can easily get wrapped around a child's neck, quickly tightening to the point that it is hard to remove.
Because of the potential strangulation threat, they have already been banned in the United Kingdom and Australia and other countries have issued safety warnings.
Although not yet banned in the United States, they have been banned in my house because the one we had popped, and I am not sure how safe the water inside is supposed to be.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating yo-yo balls to see if they should be banned, so if you have had a problem with a yo-yo ball, you can file an incident report to help their investigation.
Also be aware that two states, New York and Massachusetts, have already issued safety warnings about yo-yo balls.
Until yo-yo balls are banned, you should use great caution if allowing your children to play with this toy and should not allow them to play with them unsupervised. Especially use caution if allowing a child under age 8 to play with one.
In light of all of the warnings and risks, you children may be safest if you just enact your own ban and don't allow them to play with yo-yo balls.
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