Good F-ing God

Millions of toys recalled; contain 'date rape' drug
Two U.S.
children went into comas after swallowing Chinese-made Aqua Dots found to
contain a chemical that converts into 'date rape' drug when
ingested.
November 8 2007: 10:13 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions of Chinese-made toys have been pulled
from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain
a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested. Two
children in the United States and three in Australia were hospitalized after
swallowing the beads.
With only seven weeks until Christmas, the recall is
yet another blow to the toy industry - already bruised by a slew of recalls this
past summer.

In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, a
highly popular holiday toy distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys. They
are called Bindeez in Australia, where they were named toy of the year at an
industry function earlier this year.
It could not immediately be learned
whether Aqua Dots beads are made in the same factories as the Bindeez product.
Both are sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises.
The toy beads are sold in
general merchandise stores and over the Internet for use in arts and crafts
projects. They can be arranged into designs and fused together when sprayed with
water.
Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested,
metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When
eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can
induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.
Naren Gunja
from Australia's Poisons Information Center said the drug's effect on children
was "quite serious ... and potentially life-threatening."
The recall was
announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday several hours
after published reports about the recall in Australia.
Fisher-Price
recalls 155,000 toys for choking risk
The two U.S. children who
swallowed Aqua Dot beads went into nonresponsive comas, commission spokesman
Scott Wolfson said Wednesday afternoon.
In Australia, the toys were ordered
off store shelves on Tuesday when officials learned that a 2-year-old boy and a
10-year-old girl were hospitalized after swallowing the beads. A 19-month-old
toddler also was being treated.
The news jolted the toy industry because Aqua
Dots has been one of the few bright stars of the toy selling season, which,
along with overall retailing, has gotten off to a sluggish start. The item,
which had been heavily advertised, had appeared on many toy experts' list of
must-have holiday toys, and toy sellers are now in the midst of canceling
advertising and scrambling to figure out how to replace it.
Chris Byrne, a
New York-based toy consultant, noted that the incidents could have been
isolated, and Spin Master may be erring on the side of caution.
"This is
something that they could not have foreseen. This is an extremely hot toy. ...
It's a little scary," Byrne said.
In a statement, Toys "R" Us Inc., said that
it issued on Tuesday a "stop sale" on the entire Spin Master Aqua Dots product
line in its North American stores and on its Web site after it learned of the
news. "We understand that Spin Master and U.S. regulatory authorities are
investigating this product and we have asked Spin Master to fully explain what
it believes happened," said the toy seller in a statement.
Meanwhile, a
separate recall was announced for 405,000 children's products made in China,
most of them toy cars, because of dangerous levels of lead.
The recall
includes about 380,000 Pull-Back Action Toy Cars imported by Dollar General
Merchandising Inc. of Goodlettsville, Tenn., and 7,500 Dragster and Funny Car
toys imported by International Sourcing Ltd. of Springfield, Mo.
Four of the
recalled products were imported by Schylling Associates Inc. of Rowley, Mass.,
including the items Duck Family Collectable Wind-Up Toy, Dizzy Ducks Music Box,
"Robot 2000" collectable tin robot and Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Top. The company
recalled another 66,000 spinning tops Aug. 22.
Representatives from Schylling
Associates Inc. were not immediately available for comment.
Wednesday's
recalls include about 7,200 "Big Red" Wagons imported by Northern Tool &
Equipment Co. of Burnsville, Minn. Totaling about 405,700, the recalled
children's products all had excessive levels of lead in their surface
paint.
Although no illnesses connected to the toy car recall have been
reported, lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Children's products found
to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a
recall.

I am totally serious when I am telling everyone NO TOYS FOR CHRISTMAS PLEASE. We are going to invest in a good Folkmanis puppet that Kade really wants, art and craft supplies, and perhaps check out where the Playdoh toys are made because he adores them (wanna bet China???) This last recall DISGUSTS me beyond belief.

I was done with Made in China toys before, now I am full on boycotting them.