Those little magnetic balls are back on the market after a two-year ban
But they can still mess you up if you swallow them
SMALL RARE EARTH MAGNETS ARE ALLOWED BACK ON THE MARKET
After multiple instances of children suffering internal injuries after swallowing these neodymium magnets, the Consumer Product Safety Commission got them taken off the market. The manufacturer won an appeal, though, just in time for the holiday shopping season.
Don’t swallow magnets. This may seem obvious enough that it shouldn’t have to be said even once, but we’re going to repeat it, just to be safe: Don’t swallow magnets. Especially rare earth magnets. Until a few years ago, rare earth magnets were marketed as desk toys under such names as Buckyballs, Zen Magnets, and Neoballs. Users could shape these spherical neodymium magnets into all sorts of desktop sculptures to stave off boredom. After product recalls and loads of legal drama, they’re about to go back on the market – just in time for the holidays.
Swallowing just one of the pieces is unlikely to cause any harm, but two or more create a serious health risk. Since the small magnets are remarkably strong, they can attract one another even from some distance away. That means they can pull themselves together inside of you, breaking through bodily tissues to do so. Imagine the Death Star garbage masher from “Star Wars,” but if the walls were different pieces of your intestines.
This is not just a thought exercise meant to make you curl your toes in discomfort. This happened to more than a few children who unwittingly swallowed pieces of the desk toy. In 2012, a 3-year-old in Oregon swallowed a cringe-worthy 37 magnets, which bored four holes in her gastrointestinal system. In 2013, a 6-year-old in Ontario swallowed 19, leaving her with two holes in her bowel. And the list goes on.
When two or more buckyballs get together in your intestines, it’s a bad time.
Wikimedia user XRDoDRX
In 2012, the Consumer Product Safety Commission initiated a recall of neodymium magnet toys, citing examples like these. Major small rare earth magnet (SREM) sellers contested the recall, but in 2014 the CPSC banned the products. The terms of the ban meant the products couldn’t be sold in the United States.