Temporary Ban on Popular Toy Aqua Dots

Dangerous Chemical Found in Bindeez/Aqua Dots

They are bright, colourful plastic beads used to create patterns which can be set simply by spraying water on them. They're called "Bindeez" (marketed in North America as "Aqua Dots"). Having won Australian Toy of the Year in 2007, they are also enormously popular and without a doubt countless Australian homes with young children already have them. Many more would have been bought for kids for Christmas already and there would be thousands more sets packed away in store layby (lay-away) departments. Now they've had a temporary ban put on them here in Australia and the ban has extended to the USA. The potential risks to children are too great until the issues that have arisen have been investigated thoroughly and hopefully solved.

In the past week several children have been hospitalized as a result of swallowing some of the beads. One of them was a girl of 10 and the second was said to be a toddler-age boy. Both of these children were unconscious when admitted to a Sydney hospital and experienced seizures as a result of swallowing the Bindeez beads. The third child was a toddler from Queensland. Apparently the toy has been found to contain a chemical which is metabolized by the body into the notorious party drug, liquid Fantasy - otherwise known as GHB (or GBH - "Gross Bodily Harm").

Whether these beads have been purposely contaminated by the chemical or whether it's accidental must be investigated. It does, however, seem strange that there has been this sudden rash of cases when there hadn't been any before. Some experts believe it was deliberately swapped for the listed ingredient.

The toy is marketed in Australia by a company called Moose World, but it's understood the toys are made in Hong Kong. Of course a huge percentage of toys on today's market are made in Asia.