(Adds Nicaraguan confiscations, paragraph 4)

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, May 29 (Reuters) - A Costa Rican retailer handed three tonnes of tainted Chinese toothpaste over to authorities on Tuesday following raids in Central America last week.

Retailer La Bomba had turned over a smaller batch of the toothpaste, tainted with a toxic chemical and exported from Panama, to the government on Friday.

Thousands of tubes of the "Mr Cool" brand toothpaste, along with another Chinese-made toothpaste, Excel, have been pulled from store shelves in Central American and the Dominican Republic.

And Nicaraguan authorities said on Tuesday they have confiscated 8,000 tubes of toothpaste from market stalls since Saturday.

Tests on toothpaste pulled from shelves in Panama showed high levels of diethylene glycol, used in engine coolants. Investigators in that country said two toothpaste brands were imported illegally from China through a free-trade zone.

The United States said last week it was checking all toothpaste shipments from China as a precautionary measure.

No adverse effects of the toothpaste in Costa Rica have been reported.

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