美國警告水上步行球存在致命危險

The government warned consumers Thursday that water walking balls, a recreational activity that has gained popularity in recent years, is unsafe and could lead to suffocation or drowning.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said it is “urging consumers to stop participating” in the activity adding that the commission “does not know of any safe way to use this product.”

The inflatable, see-through spheres are common at amusement parks, malls and fairs in the US, Australia and Europe. They are frequently used by children.

A rider climbs inside the plastic bubble, similar to a giant hamster ball, and stands up. The ball is sealed with a zipper and floats in a pool or a lake. As the rider walks inside the ball, the ball rolls along the top of the water.

The commission said that it has informed state amusement ride officials of the risks associated with the product. It is also encouraging state officials not to permit the ride in their state.

One key concern is the lack of an emergency exit. The water balls can be opened only by a person outside of the ball, the commission said.

The commission said it is aware of two incidents in which people were hurt.

In the first, a 5-year-old girl in Kingston, Mass., passed out last year while inside a ball for a brief time. In the other, a young boy suffered a broken arm when the ball he was in fell out of a shallow above-ground pool and landed on the hard ground.

Manufacturers, for their part, say the water walking balls are safe.

“There are now hundreds of thousands of the water balls in use around the world being used safely,” said Charles B. Jones, head of Viale Campania in Monza, Italy, who claims to have invented the water sphere 14 years ago.

The 6.5-foot water walking balls contain about 90 minutes worth of oxygen, he said. A ride typically lasts five to seven minutes.

美國政府週四警告消費者說，水上步行球不安全，可能導致窒息或溺水。水上步行球是近年來日漸流行的一種娛樂活動。

美國消費品安全委員會說，他們正“力勸消費者停止參與”這一活動，並稱委員會“不知道有任何使用這一產品的安全方式存在”。

這種充氣透明球體在美國、澳大利亞和歐洲的遊樂園、大型購物中心和露天遊樂場很常見。孩子們經常玩這個。

遊玩者爬進這個塑料大泡泡（類似於一個巨大的倉鼠球），然後站起來。這個球用一個拉鍊封口，漂浮在池子或湖裏。遊玩者在球裏走動時，球就在水面上滾動。

委員會稱已將這一產品的風險通知了各州的遊樂設施官員。委員會還勸他們在自己的州禁止使用這一遊樂設施。

委員會說，水上步行球的一個關鍵隱患就是沒有緊急出口，只能靠人從外面把球打開。

委員會稱，他們已經知道有兩起因玩水上步行球而受傷的事故。

在第一起事故中，馬薩諸塞州金斯敦的一位5歲小女孩去年在水上步行球裏待了一小段時間就昏倒了。另一起事故中，水上步行球從地上淺水池中滾出來，掉到堅硬的地面上，球裏的小男孩把胳膊摔斷了。

不過，製造者自己卻說，水上步行球是安全的。

自稱在14年前發明了水上步行球的查爾斯•B•瓊斯說：“現在全世界有數十萬水上步行球在安全的使用當中。” 瓊斯是意大利蒙扎的Viale Campania公司的老總。

他說，這些直徑爲6.5英尺的水上步行球內含可以使用90分鐘的氧氣。通常水上步行球的一次遊玩時間爲5到7分鐘。