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Snopes says that in the UK 9 children died on pen lids between 1970 and 1984. Since the holes in the lids zero children choked to death. Is the 100/yr in the US

by rr808 2y ago

Snopes says that in the UK 9 children died on pen lids between 1970 and 1984. Since the holes in the lids zero children choked to death. Is the 100/yr in the USA really true? https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/holes-pen-caps-prevent-choking/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/holes-pen-caps-prevent-cho...

0xbadcafebee 2y ago
The story says 100 people per year in the US, not specifically children, die of choking on pen lids. I can't find any source for that number. But choking is the third leading cause of death by unintentional injury (https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/all-injuries/deaths-by-demographics/deaths-by-age/data-details/ https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/all-injuries/deaths-by-demograph...). The vast majority of choking cases are from food, and largely by the elderly. Edit: it appears the source for the claim is Rachfeed[1], the news and entertainment blog that this Independent story comes from. Rachfeed links to a story from OMG Facts[2] which is down due to a DNS error. The Wayback Archive only has 1 record for that page, and it's unavailable. So the only source for the claim is basically nonexistent. A sultan-and-oligarch-owned tabloid quoting a rag quoting an unavailable source. This is a newspaper of record in the UK. CNET ran a similar story[3] in 2016 with the "100 deaths a year" figure, quoting The Independent as a source. Thousands of sites seem to have republished it, quoting those two as sources. [1] https://rachfeed.com/pen-caps-hole/ https://rachfeed.com/pen-caps-hole/ [2] http://www.omgfacts.com/health/8329/Pen-caps-cause-100-deaths-a-year http://www.omgfacts.com/health/8329/Pen-caps-cause-100-death... [3] https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/pen-caps-have-holes-because-we-filthy-humans-will-gnaw-on-anything/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/pen-caps-have-holes-beca...
bigstrat2003 2y ago
I'm quite surprised that this actually works (or seems to, based on the Snopes link). The holes in these pen caps are tiny, and I feel like if I had one lodged in my airway I still wouldn't be able to suck enough air through that. But I guess you can't argue with results.
- EnigmaFlare 2y ago
  You can try breathing through one to see. But the hole may also prevent it getting sucked into/deeper into your windpipe in the first place by preventing a seal.
  - readenough 2y ago
    Trying it out might lead to the cap getting accidentally sucked into the wind pipe. Please be careful. Edit spelling.
    - EnigmaFlare 2y ago
      Come on. Millions of people put pen caps in their mouths. Nobody's going to need a special warning when they're specifically thinking about the choking hazard.
m463 2y ago
I wonder if computers have (will?) replaced pens in schools?

by rr808 2y ago

0xbadcafebee 2y ago

The story says 100 people per year in the US, not specifically children, die of choking on pen lids. I can't find any source for that number. But choking is the third leading cause of death by unintentional injury (https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/all-injuries/deaths-by-demographics/deaths-by-age/data-details/ https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/all-injuries/deaths-by-demograph...). The vast majority of choking cases are from food, and largely by the elderly. Edit: it appears the source for the claim is Rachfeed[1], the news and entertainment blog that this Independent story comes from. Rachfeed links to a story from OMG Facts[2] which is down due to a DNS error. The Wayback Archive only has 1 record for that page, and it's unavailable. So the only source for the claim is basically nonexistent. A sultan-and-oligarch-owned tabloid quoting a rag quoting an unavailable source. This is a newspaper of record in the UK. CNET ran a similar story[3] in 2016 with the "100 deaths a year" figure, quoting The Independent as a source. Thousands of sites seem to have republished it, quoting those two as sources. [1] https://rachfeed.com/pen-caps-hole/ https://rachfeed.com/pen-caps-hole/ [2] http://www.omgfacts.com/health/8329/Pen-caps-cause-100-deaths-a-year http://www.omgfacts.com/health/8329/Pen-caps-cause-100-death... [3] https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/pen-caps-have-holes-because-we-filthy-humans-will-gnaw-on-anything/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/pen-caps-have-holes-beca...

bigstrat2003 2y ago

I'm quite surprised that this actually works (or seems to, based on the Snopes link). The holes in these pen caps are tiny, and I feel like if I had one lodged in my airway I still wouldn't be able to suck enough air through that. But I guess you can't argue with results.

EnigmaFlare 2y ago
You can try breathing through one to see. But the hole may also prevent it getting sucked into/deeper into your windpipe in the first place by preventing a seal.
- readenough 2y ago
  Trying it out might lead to the cap getting accidentally sucked into the wind pipe. Please be careful. Edit spelling.
  - EnigmaFlare 2y ago
    Come on. Millions of people put pen caps in their mouths. Nobody's going to need a special warning when they're specifically thinking about the choking hazard.

m463 2y ago

I wonder if computers have (will?) replaced pens in schools?