Bindeez
Encyclopedia
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
that was awarded Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n "Toy of the Year" for 2007. Toy Wishes magazine named it as one of the products among its 12 best toys of 2007. It is manufactured in China for the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n-owned company Moose Enterprise P/L, and distributed in North America by Spin Master Ltd
Spin Master
Spin Master is a children's entertainment company based in Toronto, Canada.- Entertainment :In 2008, Spin Master Ltd. partnered with Cartoon Network Enterprises to create "multi-category consumer products programs for Spin Master's portfolio of brands." The company employs over 700 people in...
. It is distributed in 40 countries, and 12 million packets, containing more than 8 billion beads, have been sold worldwide.
The toy was subject to a multi-national product recall
Product recall
A product recall is a request to return to the maker a batch or an entire production run of a product, usually due to the discovery of safety issues. The recall is an effort to limit liability for corporate negligence and to improve or avoid damage to publicity...
after it was found that the Wangqi Product Factory in Shenzhen
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
had used a cheap chemical that was a pharmacologically active sedative
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....
prodrug
Prodrug
A prodrug is a pharmacological substance administered in an inactive form. Once administered, the prodrug is metabolised in vivo into an active metabolite, a process termed bioactivation. The rationale behind the use of a prodrug is generally for absorption, distribution, metabolism, and...
instead of the safer specified one in some shipped toys, resulting in the illness and hospitalization of some children who ingested the beads.
Description
The beads are approximately five millimeters in diameter and come in a wide range of colours. Bindeez are available in various different kits with accessories such as a drying fan, applicator pen, design templates for the beads, and water spray bottles. The product is labelled for ages four and above.
Recall
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n market by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is an independent agency of the United States government created in 1972 through the Consumer Product Safety Act to protect "against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products." The CPSC is an independent agency that does...
as well as European markets in early November 2007. They were recalled
Product recall
A product recall is a request to return to the maker a batch or an entire production run of a product, usually due to the discovery of safety issues. The recall is an effort to limit liability for corporate negligence and to improve or avoid damage to publicity...
in Australia after a two-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl became seriously ill after they swallowed large numbers of the beads and the connection between the illness and the product was discovered by a doctor at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney. Two children in North America became unconscious after similar ingestion. U.S. safety officials recalled about 4.2 million of the toys.
The toy was supposed to contain the non-toxic chemical 1,5-pentanediol
1,5-Pentanediol
1,5-Pentanediol is the organic compound with the formula HOCH2CH2CH2CH2CH2OH. Like other diols, this viscous liquid is used as plasticizer and also forms polyesters that are used as emulsifying agents and resin intermediates...
(a viscous oily liquid used as plasticiser), but instead contained 1,4-butanediol
1,4-Butanediol
1,4-Butanediol is the organic compound with the formula HOCH2CH2CH2CH2OH. This colorless viscous liquid is derived from butane by placement of alcohol groups at each end of the chain. It is one of four stable isomers of butanediol.-Synthesis:...
, which is metabolised
Drug metabolism
Drug metabolism is the biochemical modification of pharmaceutical substances by living organisms, usually through specialized enzymatic systems. This is a form of xenobiotic metabolism. Drug metabolism often converts lipophilic chemical compounds into more readily excreted polar products...
into the drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid
Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid
γ-Hydroxybutyric acid , also known as 4-hydroxybutanoic acid and sodium oxybate when used for medicinal purposes, is a naturally occurring substance found in the central nervous system, wine, beef, small citrus fruits, and almost all animals in small amounts. It is also categorized as an illegal...
(GHB, an anaesthetic used as a recreational drug
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
). At the time the substitution was discovered, the non-toxic ingredient was three to seven times more expensive than the chemical used. The affected children had seizure
Seizure
An epileptic seizure, occasionally referred to as a fit, is defined as a transient symptom of "abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain". The outward effect can be as dramatic as a wild thrashing movement or as mild as a brief loss of awareness...
-like activity, which is an occasional side-effect of severe GHB overdose. Concern has been raised in the press that people may intentionally eat the beads in order to get high, potentially spawning a black market in the recalled toy.
The Australian distributor has claimed that the medical emergencies "did not result in any long-term effects."
A similar Japanese product, Aquabeads, which was developed in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
by Epoch Co. Ltd, and is produced by a different Chinese manufacturer, has not been recalled and is uncontaminated.
In Australia, replacement beads were available from March 2008 onwards, based on the interim ban being lifted. The replacement beads will be manufactured using only approved ingredients. To discourage ingestion, the replacement beads will also be coated with the bitter-tasting substance known as Bitrex. The name of the product was also changed from Bindeez to Beados in an attempt to extinguish the link between the recall of the old toy and the new toy.
In North America, the beads, previously marketed as "Aquadots" were remarketed as Pixos and marketed as "Safety Tested" in the television commercial as the commercial began hitting the airways in early July. However, the background music is exactly the same. In June 2009, "Chixos" featuring dolls began marketing more towards girls.