China’s safety watchdog confirmed Saturday that toy beads recalled in the United States and Australia – after sickening children contain a substance that can turn into the “date-rape” drug after ingested.

The toys are coated with the industrial chemical 1,4-butanediol, and when ingested, the chemical metabolizes into the drug gamma hydroxy butyrate, also known as GHB, which can cause breathing problems, loss of consciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Millions of units of the popular toys, which are sold as Aqua Dots in the United States and as Bindeez in Australia, were recalled in those countries as well as Britain, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere this past week after children began falling sick from swallowing the toy’s bead-like parts.

The toys were supposed to use 1,5-pentanediol, a nontoxic compound found in glue, but instead contained the harmful 1,4-butanediol, which is widely used in cleaners and plastics. It’s not clear why 1,4-butanediol was substituted. However, there is a significant difference in price between the two chemicals.

(Source: CBS)