Many ball pools at playgrounds in the Taipei area are filthy and contain high concentrations of germs that pose health risks to children, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday, urging the relevant authorities, playground operators and parents to pay attention to the problem.
The foundation’s officials made the statement on completion of an inspection of eight ball pools, including those at IKEA, the Y-17, Kid’s Park, Tom Dragon Castle, the Hsin-Yi Foundation and the Taipei Wanhua Sports Center.
The findings indicate that high concentrations of colony forming units (CFU) were commonly found on the surfaces of the balls tested, and two of the 24 samples recorded 10,000 to 100,000 CFUs, said Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏), chairman of the foundation.
PHOTO: CNA
Cheng said that colon bacilli and other germs were also found on the balls.
“The ball pools are contaminated … and samples of Staphylococcus aureus — which causes nausea, vomiting and food poisoning — were also found,” Cheng said.
Meanwhile, the results of the investigation also showed that most of the operators failed to provide detailed information on how often they clean the ball pools and how they disinfect the balls and the facilities, foundation deputy director Lee Cherh-yu (李哲瑜) said.
“We sincerely hope that the operators will provide consumers with that information,” Lee said. “The consumers need to put pressure on the operators to manage the pools more effectively.”
Hsieh Tien-jen (謝天仁), vice chairman of the foundation, said that “the operators must clean not only the balls but also the sides of the pools thoroughly,” adding that potentially hazardous items such as pencils and hair binders were also found in the ball pools during the inspections.
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