Hong Kong latest place to find China-made toys tainted with harmful 'date rape' chemical

China-made toys seized in Hong Kong were found to be tainted with a chemical that converts into a powerful "date rape" drug when ingested, the government said.

Laboratory tests found beads in the award-winning arts and crafts toy sets were coated with an industrial chemical called 1,4-butanediol, Hong Kong's customs department said in a statement late Friday.

The chemical — which metabolizes into the so-called date-rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate when eaten — could lead to serious adverse health affects such as breathing problems, mental confusion, loss of consciousness and even death, Hong Kong's Department of Health said.

At least six children in the United States and Australia have been hospitalized after swallowing the colorful beads, which can be arranged into designs and fused using water.

The toys are called Bindeez in Australia and Aqua Dots in the United States. They are sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprise, which has a regional office in Hong Kong and factories in China.

Millions of the toys have been recalled in Australia, the United States, Britain and Asia since Australian scientists raised concerns earlier this week about the chemical's effects. According to Moose Enterprise, the beads should have been coated with the non-toxic 1,5-pentanediol. The company said it was investigating how the potentially fatal 1,4-butanediol got on the toys.

Retailer Toys "R" Us has pulled all the toy beads from its stores in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

Hong Kong's customs officials advised parents to keep the toy away from their children and to seek immediate medical attention if their child shows any adverse health affects after playing with the beads.

The department is also considering whether to take legal action against suppliers of the toys, the statement said.

Moose Enterprises' Hong Kong office told The Associated Press earlier that production of the toy was outsourced to a mainland Chinese factory, but refused to provide a name or location. A spokeswoman said Bindeez and Aqua Dots were made at the same factory in Shenzhen, in China's southern Guangdong province. The company said the product is distributed in 40 countries.