Polly Pocket Sets Recalled
There are a whopping 4.4 million of these sets that are being recalled. This is similar to the recalls on Magnetix toys. Magnets can be very dangerous when two are swallowed. They can end up sticking together and causing injuries at best and death at worst. In addition, if the magnets are inhaled and reach the lungs, surgery is required to remove them.There has been discussion that some of the toys (like Magnetix) are recommended for older children and so if an injury occurs in a younger child then the parents are wholly at fault. I can't say I agree with this. These Polly Pocket pieces are tiny and the magnets inside that are falling out are even smaller (see image above). Small enough, I'd say, to get lost in a carpet where an older child was playing alone only to be found later by a younger child.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commisison there were 170 reports of these magnets falling out and three were serious enough to require surgery. While one of the injuries involved a toddler, one child was 7 years old and the other 8 years old. So, older children aren't exempt from these types of injuries from magnets just because they fit within the recommended age range of the product. Everyone should be very careful with toys that contain magnets, no matter the age of their child.
Photo (c) Consumer Product Safety Commission
Comments
I totally agree with your assessment, Stephanie! Readers, please read more about how these injuries from swallowed or inhaled magnets occurred and really look at the pictures before you blame parents. Caregivers, for more information, photos and videos about the unique and serious risks of small neodymium magnets in our children’s toys, please visit this blog:
http://magnetscankill.spaces.live.com.
The magnetic Polly Pocket sets are even smaller than the normal Pollies and the dolls are made of a very soft flexible material. There are small magnets, painted flesh color, nested in the hands and feet of each Polly doll (or her boyfriend!) plus in many of her accessories and other items in the “Magnetic Polly World”. Tragically, one of the girls injured (in July, 2005) swallowed magnets after she carried the little pieces around her room in her mouth and they came loose unbeknownst to her and her parents. Mattel says that the models that are on store shelves have different model numbers and are not the recalled magnetic Polly models. The difference is the magnets are more securely held in. But that wouldn’t help if a child actually chewed off the feet of these soft little dolls that are about 2 inches tall.
Do you have boys and girls, nieces and nephews, grandsons and granddaughters? Please be super careful about Magnetix and all the new “Magna” powerful MEGA Brands toys with small parts that came out this year. They have not been independently tested and some consumers have found magnets STILL coming out of toys bought after the March 31 recall of the Magnetix line. Be careful about Magna Man, Mag Warrior, Magnetix Marvel action figures, Magnetix Micro, Magnetix World, Magnetix Extreme, Magnawheels, Magnasaurs, Magnabug, Magna Monster, Magnimals, etc. The problem seems to be that the designs still don’t actually keep the magnets from popping out if the glue gets dry or loose or if the corner joints of the panels loosen over time. You definitely don’t want to take the chance of any tiny silver magnets hiding in your carpet if you have children at home!
In the case of the Magnetix Jr. “Magnimals” toys made by MEGA Brands, they have small accessories that look like food and contain magnets. Magnimals are labeled for children 3 and over but personally I do not think they are a good choice for a 3-year old child because there are pieces that are of a swallowable size that contain NIB magnets. Tiny magnets and Pre-Schoolers: keep them apart.
Another HUGE Mattel recall was announced by the CPSC August 14, 2007 relating to toys containing magnets, sold for both boys and girls. Go to cpsc.gov to check out the lists of 63 separate recalled products including many Polly Pocket models, Doggie Daycare, Barbie and Tanner, Batman action figures and the Triple Slash Zolo Roronoa action figure. Beware - most of the products DO NOT have Magnetic, Magna or any other clue in the name. Mattel has received 570 reports of magnets becoming detached from these Polly Pocket and other toys, and there have been at least 4 serious injuries from kiddos who swallowed them and the magnets reattached across intestines, requiring drastic surgery.
All the facts you need to know are posted at http://magnetscankill.spaces.live.com.