To be fair, the substance metabolizes into GHB when consumed. The toy itself does not contain GHB. So yes, bad, but bad-negligent, not bad-psychotic.

Are those the Aquadots?

those are aquadots malaika924, and actually they were manufactured in china (who'd have guessed, haha) not australia.

scary!

And in a little-publicized event a week ago, the (Bush-appointed) head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Nacny Nord came out in opposition to a bill which would add 100 staffers to the commission and increase fines for companies who are careless.

She said that new regulations would result in worried companies reporting every little safety concern and inundate the agency.

Kind of sad that the head of the CPSC wants to limit its ability to do its job.

They're Aqua Dots here, but sold as Bindeez in Australia, which was where kids started getting sick. Sorry, should have elaborated :)

Oh dear.

I was looking into getting one of those aquadot kits for my niece. I'll steer clear, now. Thanks for posting this!

oh and ccall, she came out against the funding increase right as they were having to recall all those fake teeth at Halloween with lead in them- and there was several days of lag time between her office being made aware of the lead paint issue, and the public recall.
Ugh.

GHB is not "commonly used to sedate rape victims." It's much more commonly used recreationally, which probably accounts for more of its presence in the bodies of rape victims than it being slipped into a drink without their knowing. And even if every time rape was associated with GHB it was because it was given to the victim without his/her knowledge, it would still only be involved in a tiny percentage of sexual assaults overall.

I'd been wavering over buying this for my preschooler, mostly because I was worried about the possibility of her eating them. She's moved on to the "chipmunk" stage where she just holds toys in her mouth, which presumably would still cause some problems if they started to dissolve or covert while there -- so Aquadots are a big "no" I guess!

@yellownumber5: being commonly used for one thing doesn't mean it isn't also commonly used for another. Note the lack of "most" to modify "commonly" in the blog post.

I'm mildly disturbed that two of the children were way too young for this toy -- 2 years and 19 months? I'm not trying to minimize the fact that this toy should not have any nasty chemicals in it, I fully blame the manufacturer and toy company and I'm sick and tired of yet another neat thing turning out to be contaminated and deadly... but DAMN, parents, there are good reasons for the "3+" ratings on toys like this.

(And I'm also disturbed a 10 year old didn't know better than to eat "large quantities" of beads.)

Erica, common implies at least more than, say, 5% of victims. (See here for more details.) Rapists don't need GHB, rapists very rarely use GHB. The fear of date rape drugs has been sold so hard that the real picture of how rape occurs is obscured. It's bordering on plain superstition to tout vigilance against GHB being dropped into your drink.

yellownumber5 and EricaB...

This is a great example of how statistics can be slippery. It's time for a lesson in conditional probability:

In most of the instances in which GHB is consumed, it is not being used to sedate rape victims.

In most cases of rape, GHB is not used.

In cases of rape where a drug (other than alcohol) is used to sedate the victim, GHB is commonly used. In other words, conditional on a drug being used, there is a high probability of it being GHB.

Statistics and language can complement each other well, when used correctly. Spread the love.

The overwhelming majority of chemically induced date rapes use alcohol. And the toys contain GBL as opposed to GHB. GBL, as I understand it is used in plastics manufacture somewhat commonly.

I don't think this is a big issue, just don't let kids eat toys in general and return the product if you have it. Unless you want to get massively fucked up on it, but there are better ways to achieve that.

Jesus Christ. Thank you for posting this. My son's been after me for AquaDots for months, and I was going to get him some for Christmas, but he's got Asperger's with sensory problems and puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. Child has swallowed the huge metal magnetix balls, for crying out loud. (Only one! It came out!)
I swear, I'm only letting them have toys I whittle myself from maple wood if this keeps up.

"My son's been after me for AquaDots for months, and I was going to get him some for Christmas, but he's got Asperger's with sensory problems and puts EVERYTHING in his mouth."

If that keeps up he'll fit right in when he gets to mainstream high school honors chemistry class. Some of my classmates taste-tested or at least smoked damn near every chemical.

GBL, as I understand it is used in plastics manufacture somewhat commonly.
Not when the designer specifies to the manufacture a formulation which does not include GBL, as was the case here.

Similarly, lead is used in paint manufacture somewhat commonly. That doesn't mean it should have shown up in children's toys in the US where lead paint is banned.

Speaking of Toys & Child Safety, what are some good Christmas present suggestions? I have a four-year old niece and I'm pretty afraid of all the contaminated plastics out there today. I'm planning on getting her a book or two, but she needs an activity to go along...any suggestions???

p.s. Both of her parents are very feminist--even my brother who (raised by a strong feminist) went through a period of misogyny after his first marriage collapsed, but he's back to his feminist/social justice roots, especially after having a daughter. The other day, I complimented my niece on her outfit, calling her a pretty girl, and my brother quickly pointed out, "but most importantly, she's a SMART girl"--my niece is biracial and particularly pretty and both of her parents know that her day-care workers really like to do her hair and emphasize how pretty she is and they want her to get her sense of self-esteem more from her brains.

Thealogian- What about puzzles? Probably with a small amount of (big) pieces since she is only four, but they require smarts without many comlpicated steps/parts.

Um, actually, according to the news shows I've seen, it was the China plant that made the toys that made the chemical switch--apparently its cheaper. I mean, they probably should have been quality tested in the states, and it's stupid neglect, but they didn't knowingly put that in there.

The reason why this is such big news is because this toy was being touted as one of the safest.

Um, actually, according to the news shows I've seen, it was the China plant that made the toys that made the chemical switch--apparently its cheaper. I mean, they probably should have been quality tested in the states, and it's stupid neglect, but they didn't knowingly put that in there.

The reason why this is such big news is because this toy was being touted as one of the safest.

Thealogian,

There are some fun gifts here: http://www.stickersisters.com/index.html, I am a big fan of the "brave girl aids". Another source is Hearthsong.com.

Yes, l.short, according to an article I read, the chemical that they SHOULD have used for the glue costs around $10K per metric ton. The chemical that turns into GHB when consumed costs around $2K per metric ton. So the Chinese plants used the cheaper chemical, which has been deemed a potentially fatal health hazard by the FDA since 1999.

Two of the children who slipped into comas after ingesting the beads had gotten into their older siblings toys. So it wasn't quite a matter of parents buying the beads for their two year olds, Erica B.

I'm appalled that our government officials have the gall to impede efforts for broader oversight when our citizens are being poisoned by everything from toys to toothpaste. Pet food was the tip of the iceberg, I'm afraid.

It's also a little too simplistic to blame the Chinese companies for choosing to cut costs by using dangerous chemicals. There is a reason all of our products are made in foreign countries, and our own corporations shoulder the majority of the blame on this issue, in my opinion.

An acquaintance told me this was a crap toy, anyway. Her seven year old daughter asked her, "How come it looks way better in the commercial?" (Everything does, my dear.)

Thealogian: Books are always good and, as far as I know, don't typically contain the health risks we've seen in imported toys.

I like classic children's books--Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal are great, and I think about right for a four-year-old. Sal is a terrific brave little girl facing down the bear! A lot of children's classics actually have much more kick-ass female heroines than contemporary books. Ramona Quimby, Randy in Elizabeth Enright's "The Four-Story Mistake", Caddie Woodlawn, Claudia in The Mixed up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The girl in the Westing Game (don't remember her name), some of Madeline L'Engle's female characters, Dicey in The Homecoming. I could keep going. A four=year=old's not quite ready for most of them, yet, but you've got a lot of years of great book-giving ahead if you want to go that route.

Of course, there's also always the Free to Be recording and book, which I LOVED as a child.

It is awful how the manufacturer switched chemicals, and it took kids getting sick to find out. Constant quality/safety controls need to be used by all distributors.

However, I was really irritated that every news headline said "Date Rape Drug Found in Toys". GHB was not used, the body just metabolized GHL into GHB. The headlines made it sound malicious, like the Chinese were out to rape/kill the children.

"Thealogian: Books are always good and, as far as I know, don't typically contain the health risks we've seen in imported toys.

"I like classic children's books..."

Freshly published editions of the classics may be the best bet.

Several years ago I heard about a children's book published in the early 1900s with radium-paint illustrations, but now I can't remember the title.

For the 4-yr-old: art supplies! Big pads of paper, watercolors, brushes, crayons, stickers, pastels, and to keep the parents happy, a smock.

First lead in Thomas the Tank Engine toys.

Now a GHB-related substance in Aqua Dots.

What do you expect from a country with few/no labor laws, child labor, cheap wages, and no pollution regulation laws?

GBL is in other products, too. The engine cleaner I used to use for overhauls of my aero engines had GBL in it. I switched over to citrus oil and biodiesel two years ago when I found out about this.
So many dangers lurk in the consumer products we take for granted. As an adult, I can protect myself, but even I make mistakes. How to protect those who can't, including busy parents who aren't well versed in chemistry?