Rose Art Recalls Magnetix Building Sets
My son has these sets, but he's 10 years old now, so there's not a choking hazard like there would be for a baby. I've seen him put the magnets in his mouth while he's building and pulling pieces apart, though. I had no idea that swallowing magnets could be such a problem internally for any age child. A 20-month-old toddler died after swallowing some and they ended up twisting his intestines. A sad and serious reminder to watch out not just for choking hazards, but for magnets, and also to make sure that your older child's toys aren't accessible to your baby or toddler.
I have to say, too, I am a little disconcerted since I saw commercials for this product during cartoons this morning.
Name of product: All Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets
Units: About 3.8 million
Importer: Rose Art Industries Inc., of Livingston, N.J.
Hazard: Tiny magnets inside the plastic building pieces and rods can fall out. Magnets found by young children can be swallowed or aspirated. If more than one magnet is swallowed, the magnets can attract to each other and cause intestinal perforation or blockage, which can be fatal. This product is unsuitable for young children.
Incidents/Injuries: CPSC is aware of 34 incidents involving small magnets, including one death and four serious injuries. A 20-month-old boy died after he swallowed magnets that twisted his small intestine and created a blockage. Three children ages ranging from 3 to 8 had intestinal perforations that required surgery and hospitalization in intensive care. A 5-year-old child aspirated two magnets that were surgically removed from his lung.
Photo (c) Consumer Product Safety Commission
Description: All Magnetix magnetic building sets including the X-treme Combo, Micro, and Extreme sets. The sets contain 20 to 200 plastic building pieces and 20 to 100 1/2-inch diameter steel balls. The building pieces are red, yellow, blue and green, and are shaped in 1 1/2-inch squares, 1-inch triangles and cylinder rods. Some plastic building pieces have “Magnetix” imprinted on them.
Sold at: Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Fred Meyer, Design Science Toys Ltd., A.C. Moore, and other toy and arts and crafts stores nationwide. The Magnetix magnetic building sets were sold from September 2003 through March 2006 for between $20 and $60, depending on the size of the set. The replacement program does not include sets at retail.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should stop using the magnetic sets and return the sets to Rose Art for a free replacement product suitable for young children under the age of 6. Consumers should be sure to keep all small magnet parts out of the hands of children who mouth objects, especially children under the age of three. Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Rose Art at (800) 779-7122 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit Rose Art’s Web site.
Comments
My son is one of the many kids injured by this toy. He became seriously ill after swallowing the magnets, and had surgery for a bowel perforation and obstruction.
The ‘recall’ is not a real recall. These toys are still on the shelves in stores. Roseart has known of this toy’s potential for harm since last year. Please file a complaint at www.cpsc.gov if your child has been injured.
Mother of Magnetix victim in Houston
As a parent myself, I sympathize with this mother for the harrowing experience she and her son have gone through as a result of Magnetix.
Actually, the CPSC welcomes ALMOST ANY comment about Magnetix since even after this “recall” their investigation continues! For example they really need consumers to call or file a web report if any magnets have FALLEN OUT of your Magnetix toy.
https://www.cpsc.gov/incident.html
“You can also report an incident or unsafe product by calling toll-free at 1-800-638-2772 or by sending an e-mail to info@cpsc.gov.”
And parents, http://spaces.msn.com/magnetscankill has a ton of scary but fascinating information about magnet toys.
Of course the ownership is on the parents to properly supervise their children when using products potentially unsafe or a choking hazard for their child who decidedly mouths on objects. This is why they have an age recommendation on toys.
the problem isnt the parents, the parts are very small and if an older child puts the set away, he or she may not realize this very small magnet fell out of the toy. roseart has always made a cheap product, their cotton candy machines caught fire, the soap making kit gave 2nd and 3rd degree burns to children. the reason why they did nothing when they found out about the magnet problem was because they were about to be purchased for 330 million dollars, a hickup or recall on their most popular product certainly would have had an impact on the sale of roseart to megabloks.
There is a reason these toys give a recommended age for play. These are for older children and if someone’s small child swallowed the parts, it’s the fault of the parents for giving such a toy to a small child….or for not watching their children closely enough.
Flan, the problem is that the small magnets detach from the toy and get left behind. The magnets aren’t secured well enough to keep them from coming out and getting lost…only to be found by a young child at some later point. You aren’t going to readily notice a small magnet left behind and stuck to the side of one of my son’s trucks. It’s not left behind because we don’t watch our children close enough, it gets left behind because the toy isn’t securing the magnets like it should.
Of course parents are responsible for what our children are playing with;the problem seems to be that we are too trusting as consumers, assuming these products are made properly and under guidelines. Is it safe to assume that a product rated for 6 yrs and up would be safe for children 6 and up? A little research would uncover that many of these injured children were older than the reccomended age. Maybe there are just too many products being thrown out to us for a quick sale.