danger of magnets in toys...

[socrates]

recently, there has been quite a delay in the delivering of the new micro-sets...
more and more people got told by the shopkeepers that playmobil has to add warning stickers to the sets because of the magnets used in these sets.

as I have more or less a medical background (though I am not a physician.. ),  I always wondered, why there is such a danger about these tiny magnets.

now I found the time for researching and found it very interesting. I am not sure whether or not this already has been topic, but I just thought, I could share the results of my little investigation... 

first of all, it is not really dangerous to swallow a magnet. typically, it will just leave the toddler on a very ordinary way. the material itself is not really poisonous and it typically comes in a very low dose anyway.

the danger comes in, when the toddler swallows a whole series of magnets. some of these newly used magnets are quite strong. there are some that can even attach a second one with your hand within. and there it becomes dangerous for a toddler, as they can get stuck in the intestines and disturb some major digesting functions and ultimately eroding the intestinal walls... 

such an internal perforation always poses a live-threatening danger. it is comparable to a serious appendicitis, but becomes even more dangerous, because if the parents and physicians are not aware of the swallowed magnets and its dangers, some standard diagnosis for appendicitis might fail and the medical treatment might become dangerously delayed. 

remarkable might be that even older kids at an age of about 8 years might come to the idea of eating several magnets. there are reports about kids in this age that intended to show up in school with kind of super-power magnetic bellys... 
even though, I would doubt that an eight year old might come to this idea with the microset magnets... for me the potential dose does not feel like super-power-sufficient. 

anyhow, after the tragic death of two kids in the U.S. now there is a stronger awareness of these dangers resulting especially into a E.U.law about the declaration of magnetic toys as being dangerous.
finally, the addition of these stickers delayed the release of the new micro-sets.

there is a nice article available (in german, english and french):
http://www.toy.de/news/index1894.html

my overall impression is that especially the parents have to be actively aware of the potential danger of the magnets and rigorously have to check the magnetic toys for missing magnets. I have to admit that personally, I just came aware of the danger that the magnets in fact are posing. 

best,
socrates

[Martin Milner]

That's pretty much what I expected - one magnet isn't going to do any harm, but if two were swallowed, they might stick togeher inside the intestine. I hand't thought of the dangers of them cutting into the intestine and causing peritonitis, but I guess that follows.

The magnets in the micro sets are tiny though, and I'm suprised they're considered strong enough to be a problem. I guess kids' intestines are pretty thin.

[socrates]

The magnets in the micro sets are tiny though, and I'm suprised they're considered strong enough to be a problem. I guess kids' intestines are pretty thin.

the problem is not the force but the effect of keeping the walls together. the walls are not physically ripped by the magnets but get raw and this might cause a inflammation of the intestines resulting in a perforation.

even though I agree with you, the playmobil magnets might be tiny enough to be not dangerous, but the warning is introduced for ALL magnetic toys in general.

on the other hand, the magnets are small but not weak, the microset-kids stuck quite well on the magnetic ground of the set. 

best,
socrates

[cachalote]

maybe there are more kids dying in the u.s. from the mis-use of fire arms than from swallowing magnets.
maybe magnets are not a serious threat.

my step-son decided, when he was 3 or 4, to roll-up a pokemon sticker and insert it inside one of his nostrels - it was removed later in the hospital with no harm done.
this event didn't made me demand that a sticker should be put on stickers warning about the dangers they potentially represent when rolled.

i have the feeling that a lot that goes on in u.s. is based not in real security issues but in the need manufacturers have to defend themselves from law-suits.
unfortunately i am seeing it coming to the e.u. too - through burocratical ideas developed by strange people sitting on strange offices trying to justify the existence of their jobs.

constantly informing your kids of the dangers (and beautiful things) that surround them, and educating them in a way that they are not afraid to come to you for help when they do something wrong might save more lifes than warning stickers.

[Indianna]

. . . . educating them in a way that they are not afraid to come to you for help when they do something wrong might save more lifes than warning stickers.

Very well said, cachalote!  I agree with you completely!    

[Martin Milner]

Very well said, cachalote!  I agree with you completely!    

I am almost every day brought up short by the apparent stupidity of the "general public". I say apparent because I hope people aren't realy stupid, but just taking advantage of a growing sue and counter-sue culture.

Lawsuits have been brought because people burnt themselves on over doors (guess what guys, if the oven is hot, so is the door) or fired a champagne cork into their face and lost an eye (would you point a gun into own your face?).

This is why we have to read the warning messages on cups of coffee, reminding us that the coffee may be hot. Really?

If the judges just dismissed these cases, after charging the idiot for wasting court time, there's be a lot less of these inane lawsuits.

Unfortunately it's not in the interests of judges or the law business as a whole to do this, as it's their bread and butter.

The US seems (from outside) to be a litigant society, where people think if they are stupid and careless, someone else must be to blame and they should get compensation. This attitude is now starting to take hold in the UK.

It's all good business for the lawyers, who get to draw up the contracts to try to avoid legal disputes, and for the ones who get to fight the disputes in court.

Ching $$$

[Timotheos]

Hey Martin

Even insiders call the US a litigant society.

Litigation receives the blessing of politicians because trial lawyers invest a great deal into a particular party's fund raising, and consequently you hear mass lawsuits re-painted as "the voice of the people finally expressing themselves", when the reality is that over 50% of the proceeds of a lawsuit go to the law firm.  In class-action lawsuits (100s of litigants), the average person receives a mere few dollars, while the law firm cleans house.

Madison County in Illinois (where I grew up!) is lawsuit capital of the US because the judges are particularly sympathetic (my dad works as a claims representative for railroads defending themselves).

Madison County is now having a problem with a medical exodus because doctors can't afford the insurance.  This consequently fueled a shakeup at the last judicial election* (* an election process which incidentally lawyers are lobbying to end as a voter choice--they want judges appointed by governors (to "reduce corruption")).  Mississippi also is having problems retaining medical talent.  Populist politicians paint malpractice suits as the voice of the people against incompetent practitioners.  So there are a lot of people who oppose tort reform, even otherwise rational people.  They consider punitive awards to be a type of ethics enforcement.  Unfortunately, the lawyer pocketing millions and riding their coattails adds plenty of shades of gray to this position.

But as for the microsets--any halfway intelligent parent (admittedly rare) should realize that's not a toy for toddlers!  A kid who eats a microset has probably already devoured all the cufflinks and tiny daggers from macro-sets!

-Tim

 

I am almost every day brought up short by the apparent stupidity of the "general public". I say apparent because I hope people aren't realy stupid, but just taking advantage of a growing sue and counter-sue culture.

Lawsuits have been brought because people burnt themselves on over doors (guess what guys, if the oven is hot, so is the door) or fired a champagne cork into their face and lost an eye (would you point a gun into own your face?).

This is why we have to read the warning messages on cups of coffee, reminding us that the coffee may be hot. Really?

If the judges just dismissed these cases, after charging the idiot for wasting court time, there's be a lot less of these inane lawsuits.

Unfortunately it's not in the interests of judges or the law business as a whole to do this, as it's their bread and butter.

The US seems (from outside) to be a litigant society, where people think if they are stupid and careless, someone else must be to blame and they should get compensation. This attitude is now starting to take hold in the UK.

It's all good business for the lawyers, who get to draw up the contracts to try to avoid legal disputes, and for the ones who get to fight the disputes in court.

Ching $$$

[socrates]

But as for the microsets--any halfway intelligent parent (admittedly rare) should realize that's not a toy for toddlers!  A kid who eats a microset has probably already devoured all the cufflinks and tiny daggers from macro-sets!

I strongly disagree... 
Typically, the kids are smarter than the parents anyway - whatever intelligent the parents are...
...and you never know, when your kid is trying to get magnetic. 

best,
socrates

[Timotheos]

A phenomenon I've observed is parents overestimating the ability of their child.  For example, the toy will say "For ages 6-12" but the parent buys it anyway for the 2 year old because the child is "smarter than his age" or the parent wants to "challenge him."

A family member of mine irked me by frequently giving my then-2-year-old child ceramics and other extremely un-durable playthings on the grounds that my daughter is "smarter than average."

Maybe she is.  But the stuff got broken, eaten, and strewn about regardless.

And the manufacturer can't stop crap like that.
-Tim
 

I strongly disagree... 
Typically, the kids are smarter than the parents anyway - whatever intelligent the parents are...
...and you never know, when your kid is trying to get magnetic. 

best,
socrates

[Martin Milner]

I guess that fact is that human babies learn a lot about their environment through eating stuff, just like any other animal.