US, Aussie Officials Yank GHB-Producing Toys

theodp writes "Questioned about concerns over China-made toys, Toys 'R' Us CEO Jerry Storch predicted 'this will be the safest holiday season ever.' Oops. On the same day Storch's interview ran in Fortune, Toys 'R' Us joined other North American and Australian retailers to pull millions of Chinese-made toy bead sets from shelves after scientists found they contain a chemical that when ingested metabolizes into GHB, the date-rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. Two children in the US and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads."

Comments

Chemical Replacement

[Pearlswine]

From the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_Dots/ "The toy was supposed to contain the non-toxic chemical 1,5-pentanediol, but instead contains 1,4-butanediol, which is metabolised into the drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB)." It looks like it's not a design mistake, but the manufacturer replacing one substance with a cheaper version

Re:Chemical Replacement

[smellsofbikes]

In case anyone was wondering -- or just so I can use my chemistry degree for like the second time since graduation ten years ago -- 1,4-butanediol is an industrial chemical synthesized in *enormous* quantities because it's the precursor to a whole slew of useful materials, mostly rubber polymers. BUNA rubber gets the first half its name from butanediol. It was developed during WWII by both German and American/Canadian chemists because of a worldwide rubber shortage, since submarines kept sinking all the cargo ships. The stuff is derived from grain alcohol, easily and cheaply, and some bacteria can be coerced into producing it through large-scale fermentation.

In contrast, 1,5-pentanediol is significantly more difficult to make and doesn't have anywhere nearly the demand or volume production, hence its higher expense and the temptation to substitute the cheaper, more readily available material that's almost just the same (except for the metabolites.)

This is also why I don't trust herbal remedies that come out of China. That one carbon makes only a little difference in this case, but there are others where it'd be the difference between as effective as herbal remedies ever are and *dead*, and who are your surviving relatives going to pursue when it's a Chinese company that made the stuff?

Re:the emphasis

[audubon]

or am I missing something?

You're missing the fact that the Chinese factory changed the original, safe glue formula to the toxic one. According to this article,

"The toys were supposed to use 1,5-pentanediol, a nontoxic compound found in glue, but instead contained the harmful 1,4-butanediol, which is widely used in cleaners and plastics."

Date Rape Drug? Sure - But So Is Alcohol!

[illectro]

I mean all the news stories refer to GHB as a date rape drug, which is just stupid journalistic sensationalism, GHB is far more commonly used as a 'rave drug', and there are more date rape accusations resulting from plain old alcohol induced leglessness. Not to mention that GHB is so salty and dangerous to mix with alcohol that you couldn't spike a drink with it. But the way the news continues to label it as a 'date rape' drug largely serves to perpetuate the idea and endanger people who end up taking too many hints from the news media. Even when people know what they're doing it's bad news waiting to happen, and giving it to other people is irresposible. Putting it into kids toys to save a bit of money in manufacturing is just pure evil.

Date Rape Drug?

[bigbadunix]

GHB isn't *the* date rape drug. It's use, actually is primarily recreational (and, *no*, date rape is *not* recreation). Loss of conciousness is actually a rarity.

I heard this on the news last night and thought "Oh, they're tainted with rohypnol". When I read this article this morning, I saw that it was GHB.

Again, the media demonizing and misclassifying drugs. I'm not saying that GHB is good. Don't get me wrong at all. But the whole misclassification of things confuses parents, makes kids crave the stuff more, and generally, in it's lowest form, is misinformation.

And we know how slashdot folks hate sensationalized misinformation, right?

Toddlers eat things

[SmallFurryCreature]

Responsible parenting is one thing, but kids will stick anything in their mouth, and nose.

A childerens enviroment should therefore not contain things that A are small enough to swallow or B are harmfull if done so. Toys therefore have to be made in such a way that even with rough handling parts do not come off and are non-toxic. Thats the law. It really ain't even that hard. The original toy in this case WAS non-toxic. The chinese replaced the original glue with another, why? The chinese for some reason seem unable to follow specifications. All the recalls I seen from China are because they changed a part of the design for no good reason.

I am all for responsible parenting, but when a company creates a safe product and a chinese company replaces a harmless glue with a KNOWN dangerous one, what is a parent to do. The product HAD been tested before. Should you put everything through your own lab before giving it to your child?

Frankly it is about time the chinese start to act upon this. Launch a police investigation and find out why this glue was replaced.

But yes parents should also inspect the toys themselves, before you give a toddler a teddybear, try and see if you can pull it apart. but parents can't be expected to do chemical tests.

Frankly I think we need to thighten the rules, NO product is released without it first passing rigid and mandatory safety checks that test EVERYTHING. Release a product that proves harmfull and you are charged with attempted manslaughter. Why did this company not TEST their products one they arrived from china?

Chinese manufacturing and Product specifications

[RonTheHurler]

As someone who's actually had a product line manufactured in China, I can say this. In general, they consider product specifications as a guideline only. They'll do whatever they can to relax tolerances, substitute materials and shortcut processes to lower costs, without the engineering or product research background to support those decisions. They don't pass those lower costs on either.

I gave up having anything made in China years ago. The quality control alone ended up costing more than any savings I got from Chinese labor. In some products, we had as high as a 20% defect rate, and 5% was normal. Now I use automated machines to make my goods, and I hire local employees to do the design and operations work. You know what? now I have a better product AND a better price than I used to get from China!

http://www.rlt.com/

Re:So...

[EMCEngineer]

And the story I read stated that according to a Chinese website listing chemical prices, there is a significant difference between the two. Someone along the ling of $2800 per metric ton for the 1,4-butanediol, and $9800 a metric ton for the 1,5-pentanediol.

Oh here we go - blatantly stolen from AP.

Both chemicals are manufactured in China and elsewhere, including by major multinational companies, and are also marketed over the Internet.

It's not clear why 1,4-butanediol was substituted. However, there is a significant difference in price between the two chemicals. The Chinese online trading platform ChemNet China lists the price of 1,4 butanediol at between about $1,350-$2,800 per metric ton, while the price for 1,5-pentanediol is about $9,700 per metric ton.


http://apnews.excite.com/article/20071108/D8SPHKFO4.html

MOD PARENT DOWN: I was totally wrong

[smellsofbikes]

Everything I said was true, but for a different molecule: butadiene, not butanediol.

*sigh*

To do: get more sleep, read before hitting 'submit'