Number of children swallowing dangerous magnets surges as industry largely polices itself

[Judi Lynn]

Todd Frankel 10 hrs ago

The number of children ingesting rare-earth magnets — powerful tiny balls that are a popular desk toy and can shred a child’s intestines — has skyrocketed in the three years since courts blocked the efforts of federal regulators to force changes to the industry, which largely holds the power to regulate itself.

The nation’s poison control centers are on track to record six times more magnet ingestions — totaling nearly 1,600 cases — this year than in 2016, when a federal court first sided with industry to lift the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s four-year ban on the product. Medical researchers say the only explanation for the spike is the return of these unusually strong magnets to the market after the court ruling.

Now, with the CPSC largely sidelined, magnet industry officials have launched a new effort to prevent product injuries and deaths through voluntary safety standards. Used for thousands of consumer products, these voluntary standards are supposed to reflect a balance between business and safety interests.

But during the creation of voluntary standards for magnets, the priorities of safety groups and regulators have been drowned out by the desires of manufacturers, who often decide which safety options are considered and hold an advantage in voting on which rules will take effect, according to a Washington Post review that included listening to hours of public standard-setting meetings and obtaining emails about the process, along with interviews and documents.

More:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/number-of-children-swallowing-dangerous-magnets-surges-as-industry-largely-polices-itself/ar-BBYlkiV?li=BBnb7Kz

[RockRaven]

1. Welcome to the McConnell/Trump-Judiciary existence...

where the password is: "FUCK YOU IF I CAN MAKE A DOLLAR"

[rampartc]

2. consumer protection does not seem to be a priority

consumer education is the only recourse. thanks for posting.

[safeinOhio]

3. Pass them out free at MAGA rallies.

Naw, that wouldn't be nice.

[Girard442]

4. I bought a box thru Amazon. Use them at work.

They're quite useful, but I treat them like a box of razor blades or a bottle of drain cleaner and have them nowhere kids could possibly get at them.