China has confirmed that toy beads recalled in the United States and Australia were coated with a life-threatening industrial chemical. When ingested, the 1.4-butanediol chemical metabolizes into gamma hydroxy butyrate, which can cause breathing difficulties, seizures, coma and death.
Millions of toy beads – made by the Wangqi Product Factory in Shenzhen,
Guangdong province – were sold as Aqua Dots in the United States, and
as Bindeez in Australia, said China’s General Administration of Quality
Supervision and Inspection. At least nine children in the United States
and three in Australia became ill after swallowing the beads, The
Associated Press reports. China has suspended exports of the toys and
the toymaker's export license, according to state media.
The toys were manufactured for Australia-based Moose Enterprises, with
production outsourced to Wangqi by a Hong Kong-based agent. Subsequent
tests revealed the Wangqi Product Factory used the toxic 1,4 butylene
glycol as a softener in the production process. The toys should have
been coated with non-toxic 1,5-pentanediol, a chemical commonly used in
ink – but which is reportedly three or four times more expensive than
the compound used on the toxic toys
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