<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- A Chinese-made toy containing a chemical linked to the so-called date-rape drug was recalled yesterday after two children fell ill.</p> The recall of Aqua Dots, distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Ltd., follows the withdrawal of millions of consumer products made in China and Mexico over concerns about high- levels of lead and toxic chemicals. Consumer fears about harmful toys may affect holiday spending, with 35 percent of shoppers believing that products made outside the U.S. aren't safe, according to a Nov. 1 study by Deloitte & Touche LLP.</p> ``Now that these recalls have stayed in the headlines for a period of time, it's pretty certain they will result in a change in holiday spending,'' said Frank Badillo, an economist with TNS Retail Forward, a Columbus, Ohio, consulting firm. ``I don't think we'll see a cutback in spending but a shift to other categories.''</p> Video games and game systems will be popular items and may replace toys, according to TNS surveys, Badillo said.</p> Aqua Dots, which features small beads that bond with water, are made with a chemical the body converts to gamma-hydroxy butyrate, commonly known as the date-rape drug. Two children in the U.S. who swallowed the beads became comatose, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement. The children recovered.</p> Also today, Marvel Entertainment Inc. said it was voluntarily recalling 110,000 Curious George dolls made in China after tests found lead levels exceeding federal limits. On Nov. 6, Mattel Inc. asked consumers to stop using 196,000 kitchen toys made in Mexico because small pieces may pose a choking hazard to children.</p> Recalls for Lead</p> Mattel, the world's largest toymaker, has issued several recalls this year, primarily because the products contained excessive lead in paint or had loose magnets that might detach and be swallowed.</p> Overall, 26 million toys and other products made in China have been recalled by companies in the U.S. since August, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site.</p> Spin Master said in a statement last night that more than 60 percent of the 4.2 million Aqua Dots units covered by the recall hadn't reached consumers.</p> Aqua Dots contain 1,4-butanediol, an industrial solvent that the body converts to gamma-hydroxy butyrate, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Web site.</p> The toys were produced by Melbourne-based Moose Enterprise Pty., Spin Master said.</p> The product, which is labeled Bindeez outside the U.S., sickened two Australian children as well, Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper reported Nov. 6.</p> Political Issue</p> Safety has become a political issue in the U.S. after Nancy Nord, acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said she objected to provisions in legislation that would increase fines and toughen rules for companies that sell dangerous products. Democrats in Congress demanded she resign, calling her out of touch with the concerns of consumers.</p> Nord says the measure, which passed the Senate Commerce Committee last week, would divert scarce resources from tracking unsafe produc</div></p> Source: Bloomberg</p> UN-real. Are there any safe toys anymore?</p>
In a creepy/kind of sad way, that is very funny.</p> But on the serious note...there seems to have been a good amount of toy recalls lately. Kind of scary that you think you are giving your kid this great thing to play with and then it turns out to be something like this.</p>
