Feeling deflated?
IA visitor to the Assembly yesterday spotted a small boy, about 10, carrying a balloon. A security guard went up to him. "No balloons allowed" he said.
The guard took the balloon from the boy and chewed a hole in its neck - letting the air out. The boy was rather surprised.
He asked the guard why he'd done it was was told the Senedd had banned balloons. Why? Latex allergies. "If people with a latex allergy pick up the balloon there could be trouble." But of course.
Just thought you'd wonder, just like the visitor to the Senedd, whether there wasn't a better way of getting rid of hot air around here.
I'm Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on 
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This happened to me earlier in the year albeit the security guard didn't take such drastic measures. I visited the Assembly building with my sons after my sons had been given balloons by a festival at Mermaid Quay, and my boys (3 and 6 years old) were asked to leave their balloons with the guards while we walked around inside. I thought it was in case the balloons contained dangerous substances, but latex allergies?! Talk about a nanny state!
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I suffer from Type 1 anaphylaxis from contact with natural latex rubber. After the slightest contact with latex, e.g. a balloon, I suffer a life-threatening collapse and will die in minutes unless someone knowledgeable is able to save my life with special medication. I have been hospitalised because of balloons, and other, ordinary, every day rubber items - many of which I can't even see, such as carpet glue.
My severe allergy makes me, effectively, a prisoner in my own home. I could be safe out of doors, and would enjoy going out, but for the ubiquitous presence of rubber balloons. The new fashion for having balloons advertise everything has severely restricted my quality of life. Restaurants are decorated with balloons. Shopping centres
are decorated with balloons. Crowds carry balloons. Even my doctor's surgery used to tie balloons to the front desk, making it impossible to attend appointments.
I know children (and apparently grown ups, it would appear from these posts) like rubber balloons, and it all seems harmless. But do they like them so much that they think it's ok that other people might die so that they can have their pleasure? Do you think it fair that I and other sufferers should have to risk our lives when we are out so that a child can carry a balloon for an hour. Is it fair that we should be confined to our houses and forced to be disabled, because of this? Just wondered.
Latex is deadly to more people than you could ever imagine. Because you only get a certain tolerance to it, and you never know when that will come, even if you aren't latex allergic today, you could become so one day, and your old life will be over forever. Like mine.
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hi betsan:
i have sensitive to latex products and i am very careful.....{no an allergy to it}
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>I know children (and apparently grown ups, it would appear from these posts) like rubber balloons, and it all seems harmless. But do they like them so much that they think it's ok that other people might die so that they can have their pleasure? Do you think it fair that I and other sufferers should have to risk our lives when we are out so that a child can carry a balloon for an hour. Is it fair that we should be confined to our houses and forced to be disabled, because of this? Just wondered.
I sympathize with your condition, but you are overreacting.
Bananas, kiwifruit and chestnuts contain the same allergen. So do rubber gloves, rubber bands, and most condoms. A latex allergy can also be triggered by apples, carrots, celery, potatoes, tomatoes and melon.
Must we ban all of those as well? And - presumably - find another way of battling AIDS, since Latex free (natural skin) condoms do not usually prevent transmission.
This isn't to do with "must I risk my life so that x can do that", it is to do with practical policies that strike a reasonable balance. Banning balloons is not reasonable in the overall balance.
It's the same reason why we haven't banned peanuts despite the fact that they give people anaphylactic shock.
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