Aquadotty
We've all gotten fairly used to recalls this year. It seems like we'd had a long run of nothing more than a few scattered cases of small parts causing choking when suddenly lead-tainted toys appear from China. As if credit woes and a declining dollar weren't enough, now we can't even buy cheap Chinese toys.
Well, the recalls reached a new "high," so-to-speak, with the announcement that a company out of Canada has recalled the latest rage in grade-school crafting, Aqua Dots. Apparently what you're supposed to do is put the beads into patterns, spray them with water, and presto they're permanently stuck.
Yeah, small beads with a weird, water-reactive chemical on them, aimed at the 3 and up set. Couldn't see this one coming.
I don't want to make light of the fact that several children became seriously ill after ingesting these (I mean, what did they think kids would do with them? They look like frickin' Jujubees!). But you can't make this sort of stuff up. Apparently upon being ingested, the chemical coating the beads becomes... GHB.
For those of you who don't watch Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, GHB is more commonly known as the date rape drug. It renders the person non-responsive but with some level of consciousness. Exactly the sort of thing you want your kids to have.
Of course, some people use the drug recreationally. (Why anyone would want to use what is essentially degreasing solvent or floor stripper mixed with drain cleaner is beyond me, but hey, whatever floats your boat.) Which leads one to wonder if the remaining Aqua Dots on the shelves might become hot commodities...
Despite this being a very dangerous and highly unfortunate turn of events for this company, there was very little chance that this could have been determined before the product was released. The GHB only forms after the beads are ingested. What kills me is the reaction some people have to this, making it seem like the company is out shooting kids. Even worse is that somehow this has gotten entangled with the Chinese lead-paint business and now it sounds as though the blame is getting thrown at China again. The Chinese manufacturers made the product to spec in this case. It was the product itself that was bad.
So even when people have a legitimate reason for concern they overreact. }sigh{
Well, the recalls reached a new "high," so-to-speak, with the announcement that a company out of Canada has recalled the latest rage in grade-school crafting, Aqua Dots. Apparently what you're supposed to do is put the beads into patterns, spray them with water, and presto they're permanently stuck.
Yeah, small beads with a weird, water-reactive chemical on them, aimed at the 3 and up set. Couldn't see this one coming.
I don't want to make light of the fact that several children became seriously ill after ingesting these (I mean, what did they think kids would do with them? They look like frickin' Jujubees!). But you can't make this sort of stuff up. Apparently upon being ingested, the chemical coating the beads becomes... GHB.
For those of you who don't watch Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, GHB is more commonly known as the date rape drug. It renders the person non-responsive but with some level of consciousness. Exactly the sort of thing you want your kids to have.
Of course, some people use the drug recreationally. (Why anyone would want to use what is essentially degreasing solvent or floor stripper mixed with drain cleaner is beyond me, but hey, whatever floats your boat.) Which leads one to wonder if the remaining Aqua Dots on the shelves might become hot commodities...
Despite this being a very dangerous and highly unfortunate turn of events for this company, there was very little chance that this could have been determined before the product was released. The GHB only forms after the beads are ingested. What kills me is the reaction some people have to this, making it seem like the company is out shooting kids. Even worse is that somehow this has gotten entangled with the Chinese lead-paint business and now it sounds as though the blame is getting thrown at China again. The Chinese manufacturers made the product to spec in this case. It was the product itself that was bad.
So even when people have a legitimate reason for concern they overreact. }sigh{
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