'Super-Magnets' Pose Rising Threat to Kids, Study Finds | WPN World People News

Powerful "super-magnets" found in adult desk toys and other novelty items still trigger many emergency-room visits after children swallow them, according to a new report, even though some products with these magnets have been recalled.

"These ingestions have increased over the past three to five years," said study researcher.

At the hospital, The researchers looked back at the records involving about 2,700 ingestion incidents from 2001 through 2012. They found that 94 involved magnets, with ingestion of multiple magnets increasing the most in the last three years of the study.

These neodymium-iron-boron magnets became popular about that time, sold in toys, jewelry and other novelty items, including desk toys used for fun and stress relief by adults. These desk toys include magnetic marbles and magnetic sculpting balls.

Although recalls are in place for some of these products in both the United States and Canada, many of the items are still in circulation or available online. Many parents, as well as teachers and others, remain unaware of the dangers of these magnets, he said.

The problems with these multiple magnets is, if you ingest more than one at a different point in time, they can attract [each other] across loops of the gut, causing pressure to build up.

In the study, the children ranged in age from 7 months to 13 years, but the average age was about 4 years.

In the case of the 13-year-old, Rosenfield said, the teen was trying to mimic a tongue piercing with a stud, and swallowed three magnets.

Six children had to be taken to the operating room to remove the magnets and others had to have them removed by way of an endoscope or tube, according to the study. Others were given laxatives or were observed to see if the magnet passed. No deaths occurred.

Children often ingest the magnets without a parent knowing, so parents and doctors should be alert to the possibility of magnet ingestion if a child complains of stomachache without apparent causes. With an abdominal X-ray, ingestion can be detected fairly quickly.

Parents are busy, but more awareness is key. Be very cognizant of toys, coins and little objects, particularly in the toddler age group. If an object can fit down the diameter of a toilet paper roll, children have been known to swallow it.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission held a hearing earlier this month, asking experts to comment on its proposed new rule to prohibit sales of the super-magnet products.

Source: HealthDay News