Just When You Thought it was Safe to Go Back to Toys R Us
U.S. safety officials have voluntarily recalled about 4.2 million Chinese-made Aqua Dots toys contaminated with a powerful “date rape” drug that has caused some children to vomit and lose consciousness upon ingesting the contents.
Scientists have found the highly popular holiday toy contains a chemical that, once metabolized, converts into the toxic “date rape” drug GHB (gamma-hydroxy butyrate), U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) spokesman Scott Wolfson told CNN.
“Children who swallow the beads can become comatose, develop respiratory depression or have seizures,” a CPSC statement warned.
…
The recall is the latest to target Chinese-made toys. Last month, U.S. government safety officials and retailers voluntarily recalled at least 69,000 Chinese-made toys over concerns of excessive amounts of lead paint, which can cause lead poisoning.
Look, they’re out to win by any means necessary. They’ll claim the moon, then Antarctica, bully Taiwan, pave Tibet, jail their malcontents, buy our obedience, counterfeit and pirate anything they don’t already own—and poison our children.
And we’re supposed to go pole vaulting over there next year? Fine, let’s go—but each athlete, coach, equipment manager, and spectator should fill his luggage up with copies of the Bible and the Federalist Papers, and press one of each into the hands of every local he meets. If it’s the poison game they want to play, there’s no better.
PS: As Michelle says:
You know, in California, there’s a toxic substance law passed by environmental zealots called Prop. 65 that requires labeling of practically every product that contains potentially carcinogenic or teratogenic substance, no matter the dose or exposure.
Given the spate of Chinese toy recalls, it might be far more helpful to parents to know which kids’ products are made in corner-cutting China’s factories. How about 20-point font warning labels with “MADE IN CHINA” and “THIS TOY MANUFACTURED BY THE MAKERS OF DATE RAPE DRUG MIMICKING AQUA DOTS?”