Aqua Dots' drug problem
By Staff -- Playthings, 11/6/2007 11:39:00 AM
EAST BENTLEIGH, Australia—Moose Enterprises is recalling its award winning Bindeez craft system—sold by Spin Master as Aqua Dots in the U.S.—in its home country following incidents there in which children, having swallowed Bindeez beads, were sickened after a chemical in the beads metabolized into gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), the drug better known as “Liquid Ecstasy,” according to media reports.
Today, product safety regulators in the Australian state of New South Wales called for an interim ban on the product, according to The Australian, the country's largest newspaper, after two separate incidents in which children were hospitalized after swallowing “a large number of beads.”
In a statement released today, Moose said that following a review of ingredients used in the production of its Bindeez beads, some batches “[did] not exactly match the laboratory tested and approved formula.” The company said that substitutions of chemicals used to make the beads “was not at any time approved by Moose, nor was Moose made aware of any substitution by the supplier.”
Moose has not publicly named its bead supplier.
According to the company, it will add Bitrex, a foul-tasting ingredient, to its beads’ formulation in order to discourage children from ingesting Bindeez beads in the future. All replacement beads and new shipments will include the ingredient.
The Bindeez/Aqua Dots system lets kids create art using beads that chemically fuse together after being sprayed with water. The line’s core product, Super Station (pictured), was recently named the 2007 Toy of the Year by the Australian Toy Association.
As this story was published, Aqua Dots had not yet been recalled in the U.S.
Spin Master did not return Playthings' requests for comment on the situation in time for this story's deadline.
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JUST READ THE ARTICLES ON AQUA DOTS AND BINDEEZ(OTHER NAME OUTSIDE THE US). HAVE SEEN THE SAME PRODUCT NAME BINDEEZ ASSOCIATED WITH GR8 ART ARE THEESE THE SAME? CAN''T BELIEVE THESE PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC WITHOUT THE NECESSARY SAFETY CHECKS. (I MEAN SMALL BEADS, CHOKING HAZARD, BEADS COATED IN CHEMICALS ALL SHOULD OF BEEN THOROUGHLY TESTED). DOES NOT TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO FIGURE OUT THAT THEY SHOULD OF BEEN TESTED TO SEE IF THEY WOULD BE HARMFUL WHEN SWALLOWED. EVEN THE MOST RESPONSIBLE OF PARENTS WOULD HAVE AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK TO MAKE SURE YOUNGER CHILDREN DIDN''T GET HOLD OF STRAY BEADS. wHY DOES IT TAKE OUR KIDS TO GET HOSPITALISED BEFORE THEY DO THEIR JOBS PROPERLY.
MARIE - 2007-11-08 09:31:00 EST -
Who needs nukes when you can just kill our kids with their toys?
Laura - 2007-11-08 06:43:00 EST -
any suggestions of where i can find toys made in america? i am done with products from china, there are way to manycoincidences that al of these products from china have been recalled
amy - 2007-11-07 23:04:00 EST -
Am I reading the article right? It says they were manufactured in Australia not China (this time). But there still is NO Recall in US. I have 2 boys and I have never had a problem with them sticking stuff in their mouth except when they were infants. Don't know if I need to get rid of these or not. Mother-n-law bought for 6year olds birthday and just called and said to throw whole thing away. Didn't the ad say they were coming out with NEW Dots?
Pamela Rusch - 2007-11-07 22:33:00 EST -
I think that these companies need to do better testing on their products because children of all ages eat or at least put their toys in their mouths. I have a 2 and a 3 year old and I know that they put toys in their mouth still. I will not buy this product at all there should be no risk of having my children or any other child for that matter poisioned by a toy!!!!
Mandie - 2007-11-07 21:46:00 EST
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