In case you didn’t know, getting hot water on your skin can cause severe burns that require hospitalization and months or years of painful treatments.
The Hot Water Challenge is the latest attempt for some to get attention on social media, and it’s caused injuries and a death. An Indianapolis teen is recovering from severe burns after his friends put him through what's being called the "Hot Water Challenge." It involves having boiling hot water poured on you.
Fifteen-year-old Kyland Clark has second and third degree burns on his back, face, and chest after his friends poured boiling water on him while he was sleeping recently. Though Kyland is expected to heal, a similar challenge caused the death of a child in Florida. Another twist to the challenge is drinking hot water through a straw.
Here’s why it’s amazingly bad to do either of these stunts involving hot water. Touching any water that is hotter than 120º Fahrenheit, can cause a third degree burn after only five minutes of contact. While the exact timing may vary from person to person, contact with 155º F water can cause a third degree burn in just one second, 140º F in three seconds, and 130º in about 10 seconds. If you want to take a bath, keep the water much cooler, below 100º F, otherwise it’s soup with you as the main ingredient. Source: Forbes