[lou_lou]

Toy contaminated with 'date rape' drug pulled
Story HighlightsChildren who swallow the beads can become comatose or have seizures

Toys are sold as Aqua Dots in the U.S., as Bindeez in Australia

Three children were hospitalized in Australia after swallowing large quantities

U.S. safety commission says it's received two reports detailing severe effects

NEW YORK (CNN) -- U.S. safety officials have recalled about 4.2 million Chinese-made Aqua Dots bead toys that contain a chemical that has caused some children to vomit and become comatose after swallowing them.

Scientists have found the popular toy's coating contains a chemical that, once metabolized, converts into the toxic "date rape" drug GHB, or gamma-hydroxy butyrate, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson told CNN.

"GHB is this drug that in low doses actually causes euphoria," said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent. "In higher doses, it can cause people to go into a coma. It can cause seizures. It can cause something known as hypotonia, where all your muscles just become very flaccid.

"And it can cause people to become amnestic, ... which is why it became a date-rape drug," Gupta said.

"So this is nasty stuff, and it appears that the chemical is actually converting into it in the body."

The arts and craft beads, aimed at children 4 years and older, have been selling since April at major U.S. retail stores as "Aqua Dots" and in Australia under the name "Bindeez Beads."

Anyone with Aqua Dots at home should throw them out, CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said. The toy was named toy of the year in Australia and recently made Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s list of top 12 Christmas toys.

Wal-Mart on Thursday listed Aqua Dots on its Web site as "out of stock online" and had removed them from its top toy list.

Toronto-based toy distributor Spin Master Ltd. stopped shipping Aqua Dots and asked retailers to pull them off their shelves, where they had sold for $17 to $30. Watch what's known about the beads »

Melbourne-based Moose Enterprise Pty. Ltd. recalled Bindeez Beads on Tuesday after three children in Australia swallowed large quantities of the beads and were hospitalized.

"I was so frightened because I thought she wasn't going to make it," Heather Lehane told CNN affiliate Network 7 of her 10-year-old daughter, Charlotte, who was sickened by the beads.

In the United States, the Washington-based safety commission said it has received two reports detailing the severe effects of the digested beads.

The CPSC said a boy nearly 2 years old "swallowed several dozen beads. He became dizzy and vomited several times before slipping into a comatose state." The toddler was hospitalized and has since fully recovered, the commission added.

In the second incident, a child vomited, fell into a coma and was hospitalized for five days. It was not immediately clear whether the child had made a full recovery.

The recall is the latest to target Chinese-made toys. Last month, U.S. government safety officials and retailers recalled at least 69,000 Chinese-made toys over concerns of excessive amounts of lead paint, which can cause lead poisoning.

CNN's Janine Brady, Jason Carroll, Laura Dolan, Julie O'Neill and Leslie Wiggins contributed to this report.





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Find this article at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/11/08/toy.recall


© 2007 Cable News Network.

[glenntaj]

--it's enough to make you wonder if we shouldn't just let all the kids play video games endlessly.

Not great for their eyesight, but they do get better at eye-hand coordination, and at least they're not swallowing anything that has these kind of effects . . .

[Curious]

how about reading books...playing cards...board games...puzzles? do some crafts...paint..color...spend time with them? ok...i will admit..we have a super nintendo and LOVE to play mario cart. the new wii system looks like it is pretty interactive and you can get lots of exercise.

it's nuts that this stuff is being allowed to happen. thank you for posting tena.

[Chemar]

gotta say I sure am glad we are long passed the ToysRUs days cos what is left to buy anymore for lil ones that isnt made in China and therefore possibly hazardous

but then, when we stick so much yuck into kids' cereals and mac n cheese and just about everything else ......guess it isnt just toxic imports we need to worry about huh

[jackson123]

this is a typical example of our crazy society.

GHB does NOT cause "coma". It is impossible.

It simply induces deep sleep. Every child taken these has fallen asleep and woken up, completely healthy with zero long term effects.

GHB is non-toxic and 100% healthy.
(it is only dangerous to mix with alcohol. alcohol is the #1 date rape drug in america)
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[Doody]

Makes me wonder what to get Granddoody for Christmas.

[Curious]

doody...don't get him one of these:

http://curiousgeorge.regcen2.com/default.asp

[mrsD]

I am speechless!

[kimmydawn]

Yes, I actually have these and purchased MANY extra beads to ensure lots of play for my boy.

Thank God, even though he was almost five at the time I still viewed them as a choking hazard and wouldn't let him play with them without me! My husband has put them high in the garage until I found out if we need to send them somewhere to be tested or whatever since I bought them online.

Do you know the crazy thing??? We were playing around with some pics we'd made and I was being silly and licked the side of one of the images to stick it to my arm as a fake tattoo. Thank God we had to get busy and I put them up. I guess the danger is only when ingested though, in higher quantities.

I feel sooooo blessed that we were careful and watched through this. Who would've thought we'd have to fear a toy iin this way???

KD