Agency: Chinese-made toy beads sicken 7 more kids
Pastor Dale Morgan
Agency: Chinese-made toy beads sicken 7 more kids*
WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven more U.S. children were sickened after ingesting
Chinese-made toy beads that were recalled earlier this week because of a
toxic chemical coating, the government said Friday.
The reports of the sickened children, six of whom were hospitalized,
came from at least five states: Texas, Delaware, New Hampshire, Illinois
and Utah, according to a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety
Commission.
The agency recalled the Spin Master Aqua Dots toy Wednesday after two
children were knocked unconscious, and then hospitalized, by eating
beads covered with a chemical that metabolizes into the compound gamma
hydroxy butyrate — the so-called date-rape drug.
The compound can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and
death.
CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said the agency received reports on
Thursday and Friday of seven additional children sickened by the
product, bringing the total to nine. Product recalls frequently spur
additional reports of harmed consumers, she said.
One of the first original cases that spurred the recall, involving
20-month old Jack Esses, originated in Arkansas.
MOM: Aqua Dots made son 'drunk'
The recall covers 4.2 million of the Aqua Dots toys, which consist of
colored beads that can be arranged into designs and then fused together
when sprayed with water.
The agency received its first report of a sickened child Monday and
ordered stores to pull the toy two days later, Vallese said.
The CPSC follows up with retailers to ensure they are no longer selling
a recalled product by visiting stores and performing Web surveillance,
she said.
The CPSC also reaches out to auction websites and second-hand stores to
ensure they don't resell the goods, she added.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday that it has directed its stores to
remove the toys from shelves and has placed a stop on the products at
its cash registers to prevent their sale.
Consumers are encouraged to return the toy to its distributor,
Toronto-based Spin Master, Vallese said, which will provide a
replacement toy.
The toys are manufactured in China for Australia-based Moose
Enterprises, which sells them in 40 countries. Australian officials
pulled them off the shelves Tuesday after three children there were
hospitalized after swallowing the beads.