This answer has aroused extensive discussion among netizens, and many people are skeptical about the statement of "saving lives". They think that the function of adding holes to the pen cap is only to balance the air pressure in case the lid can't be opened.
Is it really necessary to have a "life-saving hole" on the pen cap? How much does it do to prevent accidents?
Inspiratory pen cap:
This is a real risk.
Throughout the world, foreign body inhalation does pose a great threat to children's life and health.
According to the data of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2000 alone, 160 14-year-old children (or teenagers) died of respiratory obstruction related to foreign body inhalation in the United States. The CDC also pointed out that every case of suffocation caused by foreign body inhalation means that more than 100 rescue cases occur at the same time. In 200 1 year, it is estimated that 17537 14-year-old children and adolescents were rescued due to suffocation.
School-age children often deal with pens. Many children will also put the pen cap in their mouth for reasons such as transferring pressure, concentrating on thinking or simply for fun. These behavior habits constitute the potential risk of pen cap inhalation. According to the statistics of the CDC, among the foreign bodies causing asphyxia, 4 1% are food foreign bodies and the other 59% are non-food foreign bodies [1]. It has also been reported in the literature that pen caps can account for 3%~8% in the inhalation of non-food foreign bodies.
It can be seen that the risk of pen caps causing children to suffocate does exist. Pen cap is one of the daily necessities listed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that may cause children to suffocate (other items that need attention include coins, balloons, marbles, button cell and small parts of toys, etc.). ).
Which pen caps should have holes?
According to the People's Republic of China (PRC) national standard "General Requirements for the Safety of Students' Articles", the caps of writing pens, marker pens, correction pens and watercolor pens shall meet at least one of the following three requirements:
The size of the pen cap is large enough (when it vertically enters the gauge with the diameter of 16 mm, the part that does not pass is more than 5 mm);
There should be at least 6.8 square millimeters of continuous air passage on the cap body. The air passage may be provided by a raised portion such as a pen holder;
When the maximum pressure difference of the pen cover is 1.33 kPa at room temperature, the minimum ventilation should be 8 liters/minute.
Qualified pen caps that meet this standard may not all have holes, but they all need to be enlarged or ventilated to reduce the risk of inhalation asphyxia.
Similar regulations are not unique to China. In fact, the technical indicators and test methods of the safety of pen caps in the aforementioned national standards are exactly the standards in ISO11540:1993 "Pen caps for pens and markers-safety requirements" [3]. In this respect, China is in line with international standards.
However, by the way, it is worth mentioning that the standard here is for1pens used by children aged 4 and below. Jewelry pens, advanced pens, or drawing pens for professionals. , usually only used by adults, does not belong to the scope of application of this standard.
How useful is the air passage?
Inhaling foreign bodies is a very dangerous thing. If the main airway is blocked, the ensuing suffocation will quickly hurt the body. Hypoxia caused by asphyxia, as long as it lasts for more than four minutes, will cause irreversible brain damage and even death. At this point, first aid measures must be taken immediately.
Generally speaking, heimlich first aid (see the death of heimlich: "the person who saved the most lives in the world" left us) or foreign body forceps under rigid bronchoscope is a magic weapon to rescue foreign body obstruction.
However, when the pen cap accidentally enters the respiratory tract, the first aid process may face more severe challenges. Pen caps have some particularly tricky characteristics: their size and shape are particularly "adapted" to the human respiratory tract, and the materials are often hard and inelastic, and the surface is very smooth. These characteristics make it possible for the pen cap to tightly block the respiratory tract, which makes it difficult to implement the rescue measures smoothly. In addition, X-ray inspection may not guarantee the timely discovery of plastic pen caps. Due to these factors, the actual time required to remove the pen cap from the blockage may far exceed the optimal rescue time limit.
But if the pen cap is reserved with an air passage that can ensure adequate ventilation, the situation will be very different. Even if the pen cap cannot be taken out quickly, the respiratory tract will not be completely blocked by it. This can at least save lives and win enough treatment time.
The importance of the airway on the pen cap can also be illustrated by the following real cases:
Left: In this case, the pen cap in the trachea was taken out through bronchoscope. Right: removed pen cap. The picture comes from the original literature.
This is a case of foreign body inhalation in children from Miami Children's Hospital. The protagonist of the case, a nine-year-old child, went to the hospital because of upper respiratory symptoms. The child swallowed a plastic pen cap before, but the X-ray showed nothing unusual. After that, the child continued to cough and had asthma. Miami Children's Hospital decided to make foreign body forceps under bronchoscope. During the operation, the doctor found that a cylindrical foreign body made of plastic completely blocked the respiratory tract-a pen cap. Fortunately, there is a hole in the center of this pen cap to let the air circulate and continue to supply oxygen to the tip of the bronchus, so that the poor child at least has no worries about his life. Even so, the treatment is quite difficult: the foreign body pliers can't hold the pen cap-the plastic surface is too smooth. In the end, the hospital had to take out the pen cap with other schemes.
Imagine, if there is no air passage on the pen cap inhaled by children, it is absolutely impossible to win a time buffer of nearly 20 days! It can be seen that the airway design on the pen cap really plays an important role in preventing children from accidental suffocation, and there are also relevant clear regulations at home and abroad.
When choosing stationery, toys and other supplies for children in the future, the risk of suffocation is also a factor worthy of serious consideration! Summarize in one sentence-
Summary: The cap of the pen is small, with no vent holes and no protruding pen holder. Never buy such pens for children again!