posted November 09, 2007 02:37 AM         

POSTED: 1:51 pm PST November 8, 2007
UPDATED: 10:20 pm PST November 8, 2007

A mother said Thursday she knew something was terribly wrong when her 20-month-old son began to stumble and started vomiting. He had just ingested a popular toy that contains a chemical that turns into a powerful drug sometimes known as the 'date rape' drug when eaten.

It was the latest Chinese-made toy pulled from shelves in North America.

Shelby Esses said her son Jacob fell and went limp after getting into his older sister's Aqua Dots set, which was recalled Wednesday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

"That's when we knew what he had eaten and that things were pretty bad," she said.

Aqua Dots, a highly popular holiday toy sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises, are beads that can be arranged into designs and fused when sprayed with water. The toy was pulled from shelves in North American and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into the so-called date rape drug when eaten. Two children in the U.S. and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads can metabolize into the drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Dr. Matt Jaeger, of Arkansas Children's Hospital, treated Jacob and said he was very worried when he saw him.

"It was pretty dramatic," he said "He was unconscious in this coma for about six hours. And then over the course of just a few minutes, went from being completely asleep to wide awake and playing like nothing ever happened."

Meanwhile, toy sets seized in Hong Kong were being tested Thursday, a customs official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of policy. If the tests come back positive for the chemical, suppliers in Hong Kong could face a year in jail and fines of $12,877, she said.

A spokeswoman for the CPSC said Thursday that parents should keep the toy out of children's hands.

"If a child ingests them the glue turns into a toxic substance and it's very serious," Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the CPSC, said. "We want parents very much to heed this warning."

Vallese said two U.S. children had fallen into "comatose" conditions from the Aqua Dots. The children have since recovered, she said.

Retailer Toys 'R' Us Inc. said it issued a "stop sale" on the entire Spin Master Aqua Dots product line Tuesday in its North American stores and on its Web site. "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," it said.

A company spokeswoman for Moose Enterprises' Hong Kong office said the production of the toy was outsourced to a mainland Chinese factory. She refused to elaborate and referred all further requests for comment to the company's head office in Australia.

The toys were supposed to use 1,5-pentanediol, a nontoxic compound found in glue, but instead contained the harmful 1,4-butanediol, which is widely used in cleaners and plastics. The Food and Drug Administration in 1999 declared the chemical a Class I Health Hazard, meaning it can cause life-threatening harm.

Both chemicals are manufactured in China and elsewhere, including by major multinational companies, and are also marketed over the Internet.

It's not clear why 1,4-butanediol was substituted. However, there is a significant difference in price between the two chemicals. The Chinese online trading platform ChemNet China lists the price of 1,4 butanediol at between about $1,350-$2,800 per metric ton, while the price for 1,5-pentanediol is about $9,700 per metric ton.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

posted November 09, 2007 01:00 PM         

These toys look like candy to a small child and because they have to be placed in water by older kids who handle the beads it makes it equally dangerous for them as well. I think this Christmas I am going be very skeptical about any toy made in China but then again, just about everything sold in the world these days is made in China.

This is all due to corporations who only want slave labor and who only care about profits. Quality control and overseeing the content of their products cuts into their profits so plainly, they just don't care.

posted November 09, 2007 10:34 PM         

And that makes me think that given the increased pressures in their society (as just one of many examples, there's a SEVERE shortage of women thanks to the infinite stupidity of government that put strong pressure on only having 1 child, and most did everything to make sure that 1 was a boy...and I assume that those here have heard about how China recently outlawed reincarnation without a license?), I can't help but wonder how much of this is deliberate. Not as some organized plan, mind you, but a bunch of malicious, evil souls that are hidden in the huge crowds that are putting this stuff out.

And yeah, everyone knows children are prone to sticking things in their mouth, even swallowing them (and even without someone daring them to), so I'd say it's deliberate.

posted November 09, 2007 11:02 PM         

I drew the same conclusion about it being a deliberate act by some psycho. We have had incidents of that happening in the U.S. as well. As you said, it happens everywhere.

Since as it stands now, the only ones found laced with the drug were in Australia. It was stated that the toy was manufactured by different companies in China and the ones shipped to Australia came from one company.

For that reason it should make it easier for them to track down the person who did this. I'm sure the authorities in China want to find who did this because it could be very detrimental to business with other countries.

All of our merchendise sucks now due to outsourcing. You spend lots of money on clothes only to have them either shrink horribly or tear apart on first wash. Because everything is made so cheaply using the cheapest labor and cheapest materials.

I just bought 6 new pair of the brand of panties I like in different colors but the same size. They all fit differently!!!! Some fit good others are bigger even though they are the same size. This applies to all clothes now. Even the brand names that you pay more money for.

Dishwashers that used to last for years and years now last a year tops.

There are more recalls on automobiles now too due to the outsourcing of parts.