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China Bans Export Of Aqua Dots

9 Children Have Been Sickened After Swallowing Beads

UPDATED: 9:47 am EST November 10, 2007

China's state-run news agency reported Friday the government has suspended exports of toys covered with a toxic chemical that changes into the so-called "date-rape" drug.

More: Tips For Taking Toys

The toys, which are sold in the U.S. as Aqua Dots, have been recalled in the U.S. and several other countries. The Chinese government has reportedly sealed the toys at the sites where they were produced and order an investigation.

The drug, gamma hydroxy butyrate or GHB, may cause breathing problems, mental confusion, loss of consciousness and even death. Federal officials said nine children have been sickened by the toys.

The reports of the sickened children, six of whom were hospitalized, came from at least five states: Texas, Delaware, New Hampshire, Illinois and Utah, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The agency recalled the Spin Master Aqua Dots toy Wednesday after two children were knocked unconscious and then hospitalized, by eating beads covered with a chemical that metabolizes into GHB.

Toddler Goes Unconscious

One Wisconsin family got a scare Monday night when their toddler became unexplainably ill, lethargic and unresponsive after eating the beads, Chicago television station WMAQ reported.

"Pretty much what they did ... they sold me poison in a box for my kid," said Jason Batcheller, whose daughter was hospitalized.

He said that his 13-month-old daughter Riley was transformed from a happy toddler to an unresponsive state in less than 20 minutes.

What followed was panic, an airlift to a Milwaukee hospital and near death.

"She was limp in my arms," the baby's mother, Kelly Batcheller, said. "She wouldn't hold up her head ... her arms were limp ... there were so many things running through my head. I'm like, 'Should I not have picked her up? Did she fall? Is her neck broken?'"

The girl's father recalled the chaos that followed.

"The ambulance came and she started throwing up Aqua Dots, you know, a kid's toy," he said.

"All the sudden she just let out this loud cry, and then she started puking," Kelly Batcheller said.

It all happened at the family's Twin Lakes, Wis., home. It was before the recall was announced and the Batchellers had no idea what was hurting their toddler.

"I'm thinking, 'A child's toy just almost killed my little girl?'" Jason Batcheller said.

WMAQ reported that Riley's vomiting may have saved her life.

"She's got an angel watching over her, that's for sure," her mother said.

Riley's parents believe that she may have ingested more than 40 pellets from the Aqua Dots package.

Aqua Dots consists of beads that can be arranged on a tray, then fused together to form shapes when sprayed with water.

CPSC officials said the coating on the beads contains a chemical that can turn toxic if eaten, and that a Chinese manufacturer changed the coating.

CPSD officials urged parents to take the toys away from children immediately.

According to doctors, if a child has ingested the beads, symptoms can be very similar to an epileptic seizure or a reaction to an infection such as meningitis.

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