Product Recall: Aqua Dots
November 8, 2007
Spin Master, of Toronto, Canada, announced a safety recall of Aqua Dots. Manufactured in China, nearly 4.2 million were sold in Canada and the United States between April 2007 through November 2007 for between $17 and $30.
The product has also been marketed in Australia as Bindeez.
The coating on the beads that causes the beads to stick to each other when water is added contains a chemical that can turn toxic when many are ingested. Children who swallow the beads can become comatose, develop respiratory depression, or have seizures.
News accounts are reporting that it’s a similar hallucinogenic effect of a “date rape” drug.
Action:
Consumers should immediately take the recalled toy away from children and contact Spin Master to return for free replacement beads or a toy of equal value. Call (800) 622-8339 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
Related Links:
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
This is the single most appalling piece of corporate negligence I have seen in a decade. And the factory in China are still churning out toys without having anyone examine their manufacturing processes or quality control. Apparently the governement put a temporary export ban on them, so who’s getting the stufff? Chinese kids?
Glad you do these alerts, Bad Dad. This one happens to be big news here but a lot of the time the news media couldn’t care here in Australia.
Like anything else, people get sloppy. But getting sloppy about requirements and quality control can lead to fatalities. The pressure to produce faster and cheaper must be enormous. There’s lots of blame to go around in all these cases in the past six months.
It seems like there is a new product recall everyday. I am especially concerned about all the recalls on children’s toys and household products. I set up a personal file that alerts me to all product recalls and it sends me a timely notice when one of my products has been recalled.