More children swallow magnet toys after ban is lifted

Recent research provides a clear example of the dangers of deregulation. The study found that poison control center cells involving children swallowing strong magnets increased dramatically after 2017 in the United States, following the overturning of a ban on these products passed years earlier.

High power magnets (10 to 30 times stronger than the typical version) are made from rare earth metals and began to appear in children’s toys as well as in products marketed for adults such as office toys in the early years. 2000s. Of course, any small object can be potentially dangerous for children, who tend to put objects in their mouths and could swallow or choke on them. But when more than one of these magnets are swallowed (or a magnet and another piece of metal), the powerful pull between them can damage or cause obstructions in the intestine. In the worst cases, the victims died or needed emergency surgery to remove parts of their intestines.

In 2012, the Consumer Product Safety Commission began cracking down on the sale of these magnets in toys through voluntary recalls. In 2014, a new federal rule essentially banned them from the market. At the end of 2016, however, the United States Court of Appeals overturned the rule and magnets were again widely available in 2018.

This research, published in the Journal of Pediatrics in late January, investigated how policy changes might have affected the prevalence of these injuries. They analyzed national poison control data from 2008 to 2019, looking specifically at calls involving children under 19 who swallowed magnets.

In total, there were just over 5,700 magnet-related calls during this period. Compared to the period from 2008 to 2011, the average number of such calls per year from 2012 to 2017 decreased by 33%. But once the magnets returned, the calls skyrocketed. In 2018 and 2019, the average number of calls per year increased by 444% compared to the period when magnets were banned. The number of calls requiring serious medical attention, such as hospitalization, also increased by 355%. Additionally, 39% of all magnet calls in the study occurred in those two years alone.

Poison calls don’t account for all of the serious injuries that occur in the United States, so the study’s findings aren’t necessarily representative of how dangerous these magnets are. But other recent research has shown a similar pattern using reliable injury data. A study published in December 2020, for example, found that the rate of magnet-related emergency room visits among children increased by 82% from 2017 to 2019, compared to 2013 to 2016. Another study in 2017 found that at least 15,000 children in the United States went to the emergency room between 2010 and 2015 with magnet-related injuries, but cases began to decline as a result of CSPC actions in 2012.

While at least one company has recently promised To stop making products with high-powered magnets after a long legal battle with the CSPC, the researchers warn that sweeping changes will be needed to really fix the problem. In the present study, for example, the rate of these poison control calls also increased in older children. Teens may not intentionally swallow these magnets as often as small children, but they can still accidentally ingest them when using them as fake tongue or lip piercings.

“These results reflect the increased need for preventive or legislative efforts,” the study authors wrote.