(Ebru News/AP) Australian officials ordered a popular children's' toy be pulled from the shelves on Tuesday, after scientists found it contained a chemical that converted into a powerful "date rape" drug when ingested.
Three children have been hospitalized over the past 10 days after swallowing beads from Bindeez, a craft toy sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises.
The beads in the toy, named Australia's toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year, are arranged into designs and then fuse together when sprayed with water.
Scientists say the beads contain a chemical that the human body metabolizes into the so-called "date rape" drug gamma hydroxy butyrate, also known as Fantasy.
When eaten, the compound, made from common and easily available ingredients, can induce seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.
The New South Wales state minister for fair trading, Linda Burney, ordered the toys be pulled from store shelves on Tuesday after a two-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were admitted to a Sydney hospital in recent days after swallowing large quantities of the beads.
Charlotte Lehane, who was rushed to hospital after swallowing some Bindeez beads, said she hoped the toy would be taken off the shelves.
"I hope they go off the market so little children won't eat them, so no more accidents happen with them," she said from hospital where she was being checked over.
A 19-month-old toddler from Queensland was also receiving medical help after eating the beads, the state's chief health officer, Jeannette Young, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"Lock them away very very securely and wait to find out whether it's a problem with all beads, or whether it's just been some more recent batches," Young advised parents whose children have the toy.
Naren Gunja from Australia's Poisons Information Centre said the drug's effect on children was serious.
"This toxin can cause you to become comatose from which you may either stop breathing or obstruct your airway and cause death," Gunja said at a news conference in Sydney on Tuesday.
A statement from the New South Wales Fair Trading Department said the product was supposed to use a non-toxic compound used in glue, but contained the harmful chemical instead.
Burney said officials were investigating the Hong Kong-manufactured product.
Moose Enterprises could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday, a public holiday in Victoria State, where the company is based.
The product was not immediately recalled, but officials ordered stores to pull Bindeez off their shelves and urged parents to hide the toys from their children.
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Drug Found in Australian Toy
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2007
Nov
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