Aqua Dots Recall
Spin Master is recalling about 4.2 million Aqua Dots craft kits because the "coating on the beads that causes the beads to stick to each other when water is added contains a chemical that can turn toxic when many are ingested."
How toxic? According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, "children who swallow the beads can become comatose, develop respiratory depression, or have seizures." Australian authorities, where the toy has been sold under the day Bindeez, report that it contains a chemical that can break down into GHB, which is also known as the date-rape drug. And all of this time we were worried about lead paint on toys...
If you have this toy, you should take it away from your kids and can contact Spin Master for a replacement toy. Keep in mind that there are several kinds of Aqua Dots toys though, including the Aqua Dots Pet Pals and Aqua Dots Studio Playset, and it looks like they are all included in the recall.
Related: Choosing Safe Toys | Infant Choke Foods | Balloon Warning | First Aid
Photo courtesy of CPSC
Comments
I am attempting to contact the numbers for the aquadot recall and amazingly the phones are busy and the website is down. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get in contact with this company to find out how to send back the aquadot kits?
I to have tried to contact spin master all day, the phone was busy , and when i finally got threw they were closed, I also tried by email but that didnt do any good, if you fill out the exchange form,all that it saids is please keep this return authorization number on fle for future reference. I have my aqua dots in the box ,(bought for christmas gift) can i take them back to the store,bought them in september.
It is likely that a lot of people are trying to get through today. You might secure your Aqua Dots toy so that your kids can’t get to them and try again in a few days.
According to the Aqua Dots site, their plan is that they will “send you a prepaid envelope in order for you to return the Aqua Dots beads. Once received by Spin Master, we will arrange to send you replacement Aqua Dots beads.”
I don’t see how they have safe “replacement” beads ready to go though, so that might take some time.
I have my aqua dots in the box ,(bought for christmas gift) can i take them back to the store,bought them in september.
Many stores, like ToysRUs, have a 90 day return policy, so you may be able to return your AquaDots to the store you purchased them at it hasn’t been opened and you have a receipt…
I don’t really feel as though they should recall the toy. The warning label does say that it was not meant for children under 3. There are reason for that, choking hazard or toxin substance that a child under 3 may not have the ammune defense to handle. It is understandable though that you can’t always keep your child away from danger, so I do feel for the mother. When we were kids though, there were a lot of toys more dangerous then aqua dots. Such as shrinky dinks naming one.
If you really think about it though anything we touch or put into our bodies has some sort of pollution on it. So would you recall everything? If they do a replacement beads, it can result to the same thing, a kid swallows the beads and then gets sick off of them. Or choking hazard also. If the child was choking on the bead, it could result to the same thing, the kid would get dizzy off of it like he or she was drunk (lack of oxegen) which can result to throwing up depending on where the bead is, in the throat (airway or close enough to be cutting the air passage off. If close enough the body will force the child to throw up.) A common defense the body may do if the body feels it is necessary, the bead pops out of the throat and the kid passes out and depending on how tramatic it was for his or her system, the childs physical system may continue to stay shut down until he or she has gotten past the shock (in this case he.) So there are no safe proof methods. The best suggestion I can think of is just to keep an eye on your kids or put potential hazard material away and out of reach of your child until you can focus more on your child. And thankfully the child made it out ok.
This is a worldwide recall so I doubt you will find an open phone line in the normal channels for weeks, have you tried other departments such as shipping or marketing? They might transfer you with a little more priority. Also, try calling the Spanish number… the person on the other end is usually a translator who can get you where you want to go.
I can’t find any way to return these aqua dots. What phone number are you talking about. I would really like to know. I am very concerned with getting this out of the house I have three young children and I don’t need them getting sick or dieing from this toy. Please Help me get rid of this toy.
I don’t really feel as though they should recall the toy. The warning label does
say that it was not meant for children under 3. There are reason for that, choking
hazard or toxin substance that a child under 3 may not have the ammune defense to
handle.
One of the kids in Australia that ingested the beads was 10 years old, so even taking care of keeping the Aqua Dots away from kids under age four as directed by the warning label is not enough.
Older kids put things in their mouth all of the time, which is why pediatricians get calls often about kids who swallow coins, buttons, beads, etc.
Why no arrests and prosecution of those responsible? If I brought this drug(or other) into the US I would be arrested, no defense of “I didn’t mean to” or “I didn’t know” would be accepted. Why are the executives allowed go free to do this again? Why are the buyers not prevented from going back to the same companies and buying again? The only way this will stop is when companies realize if we are going to import something, “WE” have to test it, in the US and make sure what we are selling is what we say it is.
Until then the corporations commit homicide and are allowed to do so time and time again.
Brian F.
Wolves,
I am sure you do not have children.
Heyy this is s0 stupid who would put these in there mouth or let there kids put them in threre mouth how stupid…..Ghaaaaa
I am sure if you walk into any Wal-Mart with them they will give you a store credit. Even if you got them some place else.
From my experience the company does not care how you get them back to them. They want them off the streets ASAP…
Regarding the comment about prosecuting the company’s officials: I am sure there are standard safety tests toys must go through~~for example, the lead tests that have resulted in so many other toy recalls this year. Somehow I doubt that there is a test to ensure that a toy (which was never intended to be ingested) doesn’t metabolize into something dangerous, so why would anyone think to test for that? IMO, this is basically a freak thing, not an evil plot to poison children.
Regarding the choking possibility, I have a set of Aqua Dots in my house, purchased a week before the recall for my 13 year old son & 10 1/2 year old daughter. The pellets are much smaller than a pea (maybe 1/4 the size), so not a choking hazard, even for a small child.
Regarding the 10 year old girl who was harmed by ingesting Aqua Dots: the toy, when used properly, is safe for children ages 4 & up. If a 10 year old is stupid (yes, stupid) enough to eat toys, then she has other issues. I don’t think it is the manufacturers’ or the government’s responsibility to protect consumers from every possible hazard in life (like the person who won a lawsuit against McDonalds because she burned herself on hot coffee held in her lap while driving). It’s time for people to start taking personal responsibility for what happens to them, & not always expect someone else (manufacturers, government, etc) to pay for their own poor judgement or failure to pay attention.
With that being said, I did complete the email form to get replacement beads & told my children that they had to go back. I have saved my receipt & the recall confirmation number, so we shall see what happens. It’s a shame~~my children were having a blast with the toy. It was much better than perler beads because they didn’t have to wait for an adult to fuse the beads with an iron.
The person who said their is a warning lable , you were right about one but their are two warning lables. the ones i bought for my seven and six year old clearly said 4+ that means ages four and up but also the warning lable states may be dangerous for children under 3. to the poster that said it was stupid.when you have kids and something happens beyond your fixin then you tell me it was stupid. my seven year old was in the hospital for 4 days and the doctors said they didnt no what the problem was. instead I was reported as the worst mother, they couldnt fix her so they assumed the worst oh she must have given her nyquill because she is haveing withdrawls from alchahol. my life has never been the same since. even though i said i never did that. i am so gratefull two no that I am a good mother I was just bad at giving my kids what they ask for.And i bought her dots in april. AQUA DOTS FROM ILLINOIS……..
the aquadots are metabolized into GHB, so as for the person saying they shouldnt be recalled… you might want to know that
and anyone that has them heads up on that one
Really good and really interesting post. I expect (and other readers maybe
) new useful posts from you!
Good luck and successes in blogging!
My blog combine all the toys recalls in one place…
You can return the Aqua Dots or any other recalled toys to “Toys R Us” REGUARDLESS of where or when you bought them.
They were great and really cared enough to get them off the streets. WalMart told me they didn’t sell this type.
Toys R Us rocks!
This article isn’t written well; always be skeptical of content that has obviously not been proofread and successfully edited. How much can the authors care if they’re not making the effort to adjust their mistakes?
In the second paragraph, it is stated, “Australian authorities, where the toy has been sold under the day Bindeez, report that …”
First, I assume the intended word to be used in the place of ‘day’ was ‘name’. Also, the name of the toy in Australia was “Bindeez Beads”, not simply “Bindeez”. Sure, these are just minor details. But are they really? Don’t the details matter? Don’t little adjustments and changes often make all the difference? How do we know what other mistakes and misinformation are being spread by seemingly credible sources?? I mean, this article was theoretically composed and reviewed by doctors (Vincent Iannelli, M.D. and Kate Grossman, MD are credited. Also note: I copied the doctors’ names directly from the article; there isn’t even website consistency of how ‘MD’ is abbreviated, with or without two periods).
GHB is not THE “date-rape drug”; it has been used as one but so have all types of hypnotic-sedatives. ‘Roofies’ are the original date-rape drug for which the term was coined.
You will even notice conflicting information within the same general website. (Please see: http://studenttravel.about.com/od/springbreak/a/roofies.htm ) which details some info on Rohypnol as the ‘date-rape drug’.
Most of the information in this article is helpful, but it becomes less so when it lacks consistency and includes errors. It is so important to discern credibility on an individual basis, be it about a website, doctor, or any information being sent your way. Anyone can have an opinion or give advice; be mindful of who (and why) you inherently trust without knowing them.
It is now the end of March and the Company said that they will send the beads out in January and I still never received anything from them. I tried to email them numberous times and even tried to call and of course nothing. Who can we complain so this can get investigated.
What is the attorney general’s office doing about this? Even if children did not put things in their mouths, why would we allow something that metabolizes into an hypnotic sedative into this country in this manner. They wouldn’t get away with coating the beads with heroine and bringing them in. I hope not anyway.
This is not a personal responsibility issue at all. Any normal person should know that a substance like that should not be applied in that use. We should not need a regulation that bans the use of enriched uranium in toilet paper… Use some common sense! If you don’t you will pay the piper!
I hadn’t given them the ADset prior to the recall. My girls are 7 and 6 and very responsible. I have let them use the orignals, now with my supervision and the warnings about not eating and hand washing. The items made with old dots will be hung on the bulletin board and not played with. The new pixos can be played with.
Well, my child saw the add for pixos and of course wants it. Knowing immediately that it was aquadots I decided to do a search of the Pixos site and the web in general to satisfy my concern about their safety.
Perhaps I overlooked it but I saw nothing on the company site about SPECIFIC safety testing. If it was my product and company that had gone through a similar scandal, and if I intended to successfully market said product afterward, I would make DARN sure that safety information would be plastered all over the place, who tested it, and how. But no luck there. Also, my search did not result in any other information on the web that reviews the new safety of the product.
Sorry, kids! I won’t be buying the product until I see clear evidence that it has been tested and has been verified as such by independent sources.