A federal law enforcement agency warned this week that small, powerful magnets have been linked to seven deaths after ingestion, and announced voluntary withdrawal from a company of a toy set containing such magnets and issued warnings about six other companies with similar toys.
The agency, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said Thursday that it was aware of seven deaths, including two outside the United States, and about 2,400 emergency room visits between 2017 and 2021 related to the ingestion of small, high-power magnets. .
The danger is that they could easily stick together with magnets or other metal objects, making them even more of a danger if ingested with another object. Even if swallowed alone, the small magnetic balls pose a risk of perforation or blockage of the intestinesblood poisoning or death, the commission said.
Last year, the commission approved a new safety standard for small magnets, requiring products to be either too large to swallow or weak enough to reduce the risk of internal injury when swallowed.
During testing, the magnets, which are made of rare earth metals and measure five millimeters, about the size of a pea, conform to the commission’s limits. small parts cylinderwhich is about the size of the fully expanded throat of a child under 3 years old.
This year at least seven companies sold products that did not meet the new standard. Those companies were not linked to the deaths or injuries, said Patty Davis, a spokeswoman for the commission.
The commission did not provide additional information about the names of the companies that made the products linked to the deaths and injuries.
The commission tested the toys, some of which are small, separate metal balls that can be sculpted into shapes, and found that the magnets were either too small, too strong or both, Davis said.
“If you have children at home, these can be deadly,” he said.
A company, XpressGoods of Raleigh, North Carolina, recalled and offered refunds for a set of small, colorful magnets that I had sold as magic neodymium magnetic balls. The recall affected about 700 units sold online between July 2021 and May 2022. The company could not be reached for comment on Friday.
The commission warned consumers against these other products: SplishSplashFun’s SplishSplash Balls Reusable Water Balloons; MXN Commerce Inc. Carrara Magnetic Ball Sets; magic QQ 216 Pieces Mixed Color Magnetic Ball Sets; Ming Tai Trading 216 Pieces 5mm Magnetic Ball Sets; sunny house 125 Pieces 5mm Mixed Color Magnetic Ball Sets and Allvere 216 Pieces 5mm Magnetic Ball Sets.
“These companies refused to do recalls, so we are going directly to consumers,” Ms. Davis said. “You have to stop using them immediately. Throw them.”
SplishSplashFun’s website was down and the company could not immediately be reached. MXN Commerce Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to the commission, no contact information could be found for Magic QQ, Allvre or Ming Tai Trade, all companies based in China.
On Temu, the popular Chinese shopping platform, the Sunny House product page was down on Friday.
Beyond issuing warnings to consumers, the commission can sue or initiate a mandatory recall process, but that can take years.
In 2021, the agency applied a mandatory withdrawal from a toy set produced by Zen Magnets LLC after two children required surgery to remove ingested magnets that were lodged so deeply that parts of their intestines had to be removed.
