The Chinese response to the poisonous toy beads represents an unusually swift reaction, and a contrast with other recent cases of recalled products from China, when the Chinese government has moved more slowly and been more defensive.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the number of children sickened by Aqua Dots had risen to nine from two in the past week, as the agency renewed its appeal for parents to keep the product out of the hands of children. Spin Master, a Toronto company that distributes Aqua Dots in North America, has recalled it.
The bead toys are distributed in about 40 countries across Asia and Europe by Moose Enterprise of Australia under a different brand name, Bindeez. Spin Master had been selling the toys in North America under a license from Moose, which in turn contracted with the Hong Kong office of a Taiwanese toy manufacturer to supply the toys from the factory in China.
The brightly colored beads are designed to be placed in a frame to form a mosaic, after which the child can pour water on the beads to make them stick together to form a durable artwork. But the glue used on the beads was toxic, the Chinese government said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
The Chinese quality supervision agency noted that the packaging had the warning “swallowing can cause danger” and that the beads were not recommended for children under age 3.
The factory used a glue ingredient that, when ingested, is broken down by the body to make GHB, the “date rape” drug, which can cause unconsciousness and even death. No children who ate the beads are known to have died, although most of them, including three in Australia and two in New Zealand, were hospitalized at least temporarily.
The toxic glue ingredient used by the Shenzhen factory reportedly costs less than one-third what the ingredient that was supposed to be on the beads costs. Moose Enterprise said in a statement last week that it had not been notified when its supplier changed ingredients.
The Chinese quality agency said the Shenzhen factory started producing the beads after trial products provided to Moose Enterprise met with no objections. But the agency did not make clear whether the factory provided trial samples using the toxic material, or whether the factory alerted Moose to the presence of the material. Michael Horkings, a Moose spokesman, said the company’s position was that a toxic ingredient was used without its permission.
The Chinese quality supervision agency also said it was seeking American help in developing ways to detect the glue ingredient and evaluate the harm it can cause. The United States heavily regulates the ingredient so as to prevent kitchen chemists from using it to produce GHB, but does not ban it entirely.
-jot from newyorktimes.com
