Australia's Chinese-made "Toy of the Year"? ....Or "Date Rape Drug"???

[BlueCrush]

Quote »Australia's Chinese-made Toy of the Year contains 'date rape' drugLast update: November 07, 2007 – 6:37 AM SYDNEY, Australia - Australian officials ordered a popular Chinese-made children's toy pulled from the shelves after scientists found it contained a chemical that converts into a powerful "date rape'' drug when ingested. Three children have been hospitalized over the past 10 days after swallowing beads from Bindeez, named Australia's toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year. The beads in the toy, sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises, are arranged into designs and fuse together when sprayed with water. Scientists say the beads contain a chemical that the human body 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. The New South Wales state minister for fair trading, Linda Burney, ordered the toys pulled from store shelves Tuesday when it was learned a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were admitted to a Sydney hospital after swallowing large quantities of the beads. A 19-month-old toddler from Queensland also was receiving medical help after eating the beads, the state's chief health officer, Jeannette Young, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "The number of product recalls of well-known toys is highly disturbing to me,'' Burney said. "In the meantime, I would urge parents to immediately remove any Bindeez products from their children.'' Naren Gunja from Australia's Poisons Information Center said the drug's effect on children was "quite serious ... and potentially life-threatening.'' A statement from the New South Wales Fair Trading Department said the product was supposed to used a nontoxic compound used in glue, but contained the harmful chemical instead. Moose Enterprises could not immediately be reached for comment.

[GrayFox]

it sounds like the same thing as Aqua Dots that are sold here in the states http://www.asseenontv.com/prod....htmlI wonder if it's the same Chinese company that makes these?

[ITcar]

thats really sad, you should be able to trust the products you are buying....

[BlueCrush]

Obviously NOTHING from China can be trusted.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »Obviously NOTHING from China can be trusted. Quote »sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises Sounds like Mooby is at it again.... (Dogma reference)

[futureviber]

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »The New South Wales state minister for fair trading, Linda Burney, ordered the toys pulled from store shelves Tuesday when it was learned a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were admitted to a Sydney hospital after swallowing large quantities of the beads. This is terrible, and I understand the 2 year old, toddlers put everything in their mouth, it happens. But why on earth is a 10 year old eating "large quantities" of these things? Shouldn't they know better by now? I understand there are mental 'disabilities' that cause children and even adults to put everything in their mouth, but if a child has that why would the parents give them something so small that they could easily swallow.

[GrayFox]

I saw on Today this morning that it is the same thing as Aqua Dots. They're recalling it and removing from shelves

[BlueCrush]

I heard it on the radio also, this morning. I have an idea...how about inspecting everything that comes out of China from now on.

[kevera]

What about the toys when we were kids.We may have been exposed to some funky chemicals man.

[BlueCrush]

Quote, originally posted by kevera »What about the toys when we were kids.We may have been exposed to some funky chemicals man.What do you mean...twitch....twitch....I'm fine.....twitch....oh look, a shiney object.....

[GrayFox]

maybe... my wife was right all this time about me being weird

[AZViking]

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »I heard it on the radio also, this morning. I have an idea...how about inspecting everything that comes out of China from now on. Saw an interview on the news this morning about the situation. The person being interviewed felt confident that they're doing a good job making sure products are safe. The interviewers last response before they cut to commercial was "two kids in a coma isn't a good job" (no kidding). That's the problem I see, they seem to need 'x' number of kids to get sick or die before something is done... why?

[Mavrik]

Quote, originally posted by ANO_Vibe »I saw on Today this morning that it is the same thing as Aqua Dots. They're recalling it and removing from shelves those looked fun too loltoys have never been the same since lawn darts.

[coldmm803]

Quote, originally posted by kevera »What about the toys when we were kids.We may have been exposed to some funky chemicals man.most of them were made in the US?

[TraySeeLea]

I guess we need to return to only playing with Sea Monkeys