Have your children or Grandchildren played on the slides at fast food restaurants such as McDonald's or Burger King? If so, then you have heard the "zaps" and "pops" as they discharge to the metal bolts in the plastic tunnels. If you have been at the end of the slide to catch them, then you have also felt the discharges.

 

These plastic slides especially in the drier months of the year charge children up to very high static potentials. Voltages in excess of 60,000 Volts have been measured in our tests. These high static charges can give the children painful and sometimes visible "zaps." During our study of the problem, we were told by one little girl as we tried to measure her charge: "don't touch that, it's hot!" She was pointing toward one of the metal bolt heads at the end of the slide. What she perceived as "hot" was the static discharge she and every child gets each time they come down the slide.

 

Most children do not understand the problem. They just know something hurts. With the problem, one would think the kids would make a game of it. It would seem that they would be ready at the bottom of the slide waiting to "zap" their friends as they exit. One kindergarten teacher told us that they do not do this because the "zapper" gets more a jolt than the "zappee." This has not been confirmed.

So, what do we do about it? Is it even a problem?

It does not seem to inhibit the children from having fun. However, some children we observed have shown significant red marks where the discharges took place. It is our opinion that the problem is one of comfort and annoyance. It should not take place and does not need to take place.

Solution: We solved the problem (for the most part) by mixing some fabric softener with water in a spray bottle (ratio about 80% water /20% fabric softener). We misted the backs of the clothes of the children in the test. This reduced the level of the problem. The more the kids slid down the slides, the more the static was reduced as the plastic became coated with the residual fabric softener.

Comments the ESD Journal has received on this article:

"Another and more permanent solution would be to install ionization blowers directing air into the slide to reduce the static build up.

Having children of my own I have experienced the problem a great deal. An ionization blower is a safe repeatable solution to the problem."
Peter Mariani

"I have experienced this situation myself,  when taking my daughter to an outdoor park. It was during a warm day here in Phoenix, (85 deg) with humidity around 15%. I went on a plastic slide, and could feel and hear the charges building up as I went down. I put my hands out at the end to stop, and brushed by one of the bolts, getting a painful zap!   Since electrostatics is a hobby of mine, I was amused that I had discovered an electrostatic generator at the park."
Peter Ledlie