New materials can lead to new dangers

Children provide a consistent test bed for what happens when the wrong item ends up in the wrong orifice. Inevitably, just about everything than can be swallowed does get swallowed. That includes magnets. Short of synthetic baleen, how can we engineer our way out of this one?

In this instance, the problem actually is engineering. Thanks to materials engineers, high-power magnets have a low enough cost for use as toys. Rare-earth magnets are particular strong for their size and have fairly recently been gaining popularity in household use. They are often sold as sets of many small magnets used as puzzles, art pieces or stress relievers.

Small items are a classic for “unintended” ingestion. Having small, strong magnets complicates the situation. As noted by the Consumer Protection Safety Commission (CPSC), “… there may be an unreasonable risk of injury associated with children ingesting high-powered magnets that are part of magnet sets.”

If you swallow one magnet, that might not be so bad. If you swallow more than one, there is a chance they will pinch internal tissues and not exit the body.

Unlikely, you say? According to the CPSC, from 2009 to 2011, approximately 1700 cases were treated in an emergency room. “These incidents revealed that if a child swallows more than one small, powerful magnet or one such magnet and a ferromagnetic object, the objects can attract each other across tissue inside the stomach and intestines and cause perforations and/or blockage, which, if not treated immediately, can be fatal.”

The CPSC Worked with ASTM to establish what magnetic strength is considered “safe.” This led to the ASTM F963-11 standard. This standard defines a “hazardous magnet” as one that has a flux index greater than 50 and that is a small object. The magnet sets in question have a flux index greater than 70.

Technology continues to progress, but the general knowledge of safe use does not necessarily follow. This leaves an unfortunate line between benefit and danger. Advanced technologies are finding their way into new and more common areas all of the time. They all require responsibility, but it is an immutable fact that for every warning label, page of instruction, and safety standard, there will be a line of people waiting to misuse the product.

As for the magnets, regulating the strength and requiring a minimum age of 14 years for purchase are some ways to reduce the risk. Ultimately it is a matter for the consumer. After all, kids can still do a number on themselves with the trusty standbys like marbles, coins and batteries.

If you would like to read the CSPC report describing the details of the products, uses and (sometimes overly descriptive) incidents, it is available here . A short video put out by the CPSC on the danger of toy magnets is located here . If you are more fun-loving and would rather watch how these powerful magnets can destroy some household items (like SPAM) click on the video below.

Images courtesy of CSPC