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Scientific sleuthing: how GC/MS uncovered toy danger
U.S. consumer product safety commission
Recent reports of toxic toys have highhe vomited up the plastic spheres on The molecular weight of Carpenter’s lighted the important role that analytiseveral occasions and passed more in mystery peak matched that of 1,4-bucal chemistry plays in product safety. his stool. His doctors began to suspect tanediol, but he wanted to be absolutely Usually, it’s lead or other heavy metthat the toy might be to blame, so they sure he had the right compound before als that are found to be the culprits, called Carpenter back and asked him to reporting his findings. Because of the but a case this fall in Australia showed analyze the beads. toy’s international popularity, “I wasn’t that metals aren’t the only likely to get a good response thing that parents have to if I said, ‘I think there’s buwatch out for. tanediol in it,’” Carpenter In early October, a 2points out. He ordered a year-old boy was admitted sample of the pure comto the Children’s Hospital pound, tested it, and found at Westmead in Sydney, a perfect match in both reunconscious and vomiting. tention time and mass specDoctors initially weren’t tral characteristics. sure what was wrong with The boy’s doctors alerted him and thought maybe Australia’s poison control his condition was caused centers and didn’t have to by an inherited metabolic wait long for another case disease. A urinalysis by to present—this time in an GC/MS eventually reolder child—with exactly vealed that the boy’s body the same symptoms. Soon, contained elevated levels of Aqua Dots have been recalled from countries worldwide. The toy is as the story spread around γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB). coated with a compound that is metabolized to GHB when ingested. the world, the toy was reGHB, which is comcalled in many countries, monly known as the “date-rape drug” Carpenter mixed the beads with waincluding the U.S., where several chilbecause it has been used to render victer and analyzed the water by GC/MS, dren also were sickened. tims unconscious, is also used recreusing the same protocol that he had The Chinese manufacturer of the ationally to create a sense of euphoria used for the original urinalysis, which beads later admitted that they had suband intoxication. But where had a 2detected GHB. He didn’t find GHB. stituted 1,4-butanediol for a different, year-old gotten his hands on GHB? “But there was another large peak,” less toxic sizing agent. The distributors “Our suspicions were, at that point, he says. “I didn’t know what this was, and consumers of the toy in various that it would likely be an ingestion dibut there was something that made me countries weren’t informed. “All of the rectly of GHB,” says Kevin Carpenthink, ‘Well, could it be a precursor to safety statements that were made about ter, a biochemical geneticist who tested GHB that’s coming off the beads?’” the toxicity of the toy were based upon the boy’s urine. The toddler’s doctors Because GHB is illegal and, therethe listed ingredients, and the listed inthought that perhaps he had found the fore, difficult to come by, related comgredients had, of course, changed,” says drug in his household and swallowed it pounds such as 1,4-butanediol and γCarpenter. without his family’s knowledge. What butyrolactone are often substituted for Figuring out what exactly had they didn’t know then was that the boy recreational use. These compounds are changed was key in solving the myswas actually a victim of a toxic toy. metabolized by the body into the drug. tery. Carpenter gives a lot of credit to Aqua Dots (known as Bindeez in Through further investigation, Carthe analytical procedures his lab uses. Australia) are small, plastic spheres that penter discovered that 1,4-butanediol “We were in a fortunate position of bechildren can place in a grid to make is used industrially as a sizing agent, ing able to have the technology and the shapes. A water-soluble glue that coats which prevents glue from becoming techniques available to look at the beads the beads fuses the dots into permasticky in humid environments. Though and come up with something that ennent creations when water is added. it was not a listed ingredient, Carpenter abled us to put two and two together The toy was popular around the world suspected that the toy’s glue contained and make a guess as to what it was,” he and was even named Toy of the Year in 1,4-butanediol and that this compound says. “Even though we’d never seen the Australia. had been metabolized into GHB in the compound before.” a While the boy was in the hospital, boy’s body. —Jennifer Griffiths
A n a ly t i c a l C h e m i s t r y / J a n u a r y 1 , 2 0 0 8
