Astro Lightstick is a company that sells LED glowsticks for parties. They claim that their lightsticks are “the most unique and versatile party accessory you can buy”. However, they have been knowing to cause trouble for kids in the past.
They have been accused of luring children into them with candy or prizes, using them as a distraction device at schools and in public, or even just being plain annoying. For these reasons alone I would advise not buying one. If you’re really itching to have an Astro lightstick then check out some better alternatives such as battery-powered LEDs instead of dangerous chemical propellants which could leak or spray on your skin.
If you know someone who owns an Astro lightstick, suggest safer alternatives such as glowsticks, or battery-powered LEDs such as the SparkPunk.
The Biggest Astro Lightstick “Horror Story”
The Astro lightstick is such a huge problem that the parents of one child who got stuck in one managed to band together and send a message to Astro Lightstick.
Here is their full story:
I have no doubt that the parents who conspired to send this letter are typical parents. They are worry-warty over every single thing their kids do, and, quite simply, they do not trust other adults. The parent at the end of this letter would have been perfectly safekeeping my nine-year-old from climbing near a loose tree branch, but she feared that if her child was anywhere near an Astro lightstick it could cause her harm. That is a ridiculous fantasy, especially considering the story of a nine-year-old girl who claimed that Astro lightsticks sucked her into them and she couldn’t get out.
In this case, I am not defending Astro Lightstick at all, still, it is interesting to see how afraid parents can be of completely harmless things. After all, marketing an item as being dangerous isn’t necessary either – which is yet another reason to avoid them.
Here are the facts: Astro lightsticks are made from crystals (specifically, quartz) and they have to be maintained properly in order for them to work properly. They are not some secret thing that adults have kept from children for years only to tell children about it once they get older. In fact, they are just a normal product that kids should have no interest or exposure to. They aren’t magical or harmful in any real way. This story demonstrates why they are harmless quite well.
The Horror Story of the Girl Who Got Sucked Into an Astro Lightstick
This is the story of a girl who should not have been near an Astro lightstick her parents decided to use as a teaching tool for science class. The science teacher had one set upon the table during class, and when she was done with it the teacher put it away, and soon after the girl was playing with it outside of school. She and her friend found it in the field behind the school and were playing it. The girl commented that she was worried about it getting dirty, so her friend tossed the lightstick into a nearby creek. The girl went after it, but as she reached for it she quickly disappeared inside of the lightstick.
The story itself is not true at all. As we already discussed, Astro lightsticks are quartz crystals that require no maintenance and are not really meant to be a toy or anything else. They aren’t built to suck things in, instead, they just transfer heat from one side to another. The girl was just approaching the lightstick to pick it up, which is what any normal person would do when they found one lying around.
The story makes it seem as if she got sucked into a lightstick somehow by accident, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The woman who wrote this story also admits in the end that her daughter could have got sucked into an Astro lightstick. This admission shows how wrong the first part of her story was – obviously not wanting to imply that their daughter would ever get lost in an Astro lightstick. Still, the story did have enough effect on parents to make them worry about Astro lightsticks when otherwise they would be no different from any other convenient object.
To sum it up, the girl was not sucked up into an Astro lightstick at all – she could have gotten in there by accident. Still, I don’t think that most kids who play with lightsticks would even come close to being sucked in and smothered because of how thin and small they are.
Conclusion:
Use Caution When Using Any Type of Chemical Propellant That Flows Through a Straw Astro lightsticks are just solar-powered chemical propellants that suck air through a straw to push them along. They are sold under the guise that they are “harmless and environmentally friendly” products that can be used for parties and as glow sticks, but they are not safe.
