Yes, you read that title correctly. As reported yesterday, this particular toy was made with a chemical that shouldn’t have been used in place of a more expensive adhesive. That chemical, 1,4-Butanediol, is turned by the human body into a substance called amma-Hydroxy Butyrate (GHB), also known as a date-rape-drug or “liquid fantasy”.
When children swallow these Aqua Dots – branded in Australia as Bindeez, distributed by a Canadian company and made in China – they may fall into a comma or die. From the CPSC website: “A 20-month-old child swallowed several dozen beads. He became dizzy and vomited several times before slipping into a comatose state for a period of time, was hospitalized, and has since fully recovered. A second child also vomited and slipped into a comatose state and was hospitalized for five days.“
This is a serious recall. Please remove Aqua Dots from your child’s possession as soon as possible. Parents may contact Spin Master to return for a free replacement at at (800) 622-8339.
My almost 10-year-old daughter has done nothing but rave about this so I went out and bought it for her for her birthday and now I can’t even give these to her….What should I do now? How can you tell a 10-year-old that the toy that she wants so bad had been recalled because of a date-rape drug? How do you tell a child what a date-rape drug is?
Hello Cheryl,
I’m sorry to hear that you wasted money on that product. But look on the bright side – at least you found out soon enough to save your daughter from harm.
I wouldn’t tell her about “date rape drugs” or anything like that. The truth is, the human body metabolizes a chemical found in the glue into another chemical, which just so happens to be abused by people. I would tell your daughter that the toy isn’t safe because the chemicals used to make it can cause her to get sick.
These recalled toys are getting out of hand though. I might have to hire another writer just to keep up with it. 🙁
I don’t understand why the USA hasn’t just sent all products made by China back to China at their expense. Let China do the testing, and shipping back of safe toys. I have no plans this year of even buying a China made product for fear of being left with something that eventually I wont be able to use. or worse one of my grandchildren ends up injured by a toy that China made that should of been in the recall. Why should I be the one to pay the price, or my grandchildren? They are handling the recalls all wrong, ship it all back before we start losing children by the hundreds, or the thousands.
I agree with Weebit, I’m afraid to buy anything this year! My grandkids will be getting homemade things (lead-free!) for birthdays and Christmas.
Cheryl,
If your daughter is 10 years old, I would think she would have enough sense not to eat the dots, or just tell her not to eat them. I wouldn’t be worried about giving this toy to my older children, but if there are younger siblings or pets in your house that could get into it, best to do without.
I disagree even if her daughter is ten take it away from her. She could have a child to visit, and be long forgotten about the danger of that toy. Or worse is someone (adult or teen) knows she has that toy, and, and steals it to take advantage of someone else. Face it we have some pretty messed up individuals in this world of ours. We have to think as “what if” or “if I was a criminal” hard to say, but it’s the truth.
My 5 year old daughter really wanted this toy for xmas, she said “Mom can you please make sure Santa gets me that, thats number one on my list” I seen this item on TV and was going to buy it from there but when i seen it in our local walmart about 10 dollars cheaper, i picked it up for her, excited that i could get her the one toy she was really excited about, then this, i really think China is out to kill our children, what else could it be really? but hey, she may be without her Aqua-Dots for xmas, but atleast i am one less mother that will not have to go through the hurt of my little girl being hurt and hospitalised from it, and for that i am VERY thankful….And my thoughts and prayers go out to familys that thier children have suffered from these outragous recalls..
My 6 year old daughter wants this toy more then anything for christmas. I bought it for her 2 months ago and a couple of minutes ago my husband just called me and told me it has been recalled. I told her i don’t think santa is going to bring Auga dots to her for christmas because they are being recalled because there are bad drugs in it that can make you very sick. She got upset and ran off crying. We need to do something to make are toys safe for are children. Like not getting toys made from china. I can’t beleive this is happening again. I’m so sick of buying toys and a couple of months later they are recalled. This makes me so mad.
i relly wanted those for my birthdsy and so i was going to get them but they were gone now i am happy because they have a thing called pixos that are safety tested but i wish that i got auga dots
I wanted those aqua dots for some occasion or something but then I heard that they kill so why would I want something that would kill…i mean c’mon!?!? I think Amercia is just really not thinking at the moment and the economy is failing :(…So ummm anyways…They invented Pixos and they are the same but they don’t look so colorful for some reason! And the Aqua Dots look colorful I would put them in my mouth to see what they feel like…Are they squishy,sluggy….Who knows I wouldn’t blame a little kid gobbling up those lil’ dots!!! LOL but still I think that at the moment buying toys is DANGEROUS!!! Hehe:) :*)))