3 ms·

One wonders how many children swallow, say, thumb tacks and whether this makes a prima facie case for the government to sue the manufacturers of all small point

• deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
• patio11 14y ago
  On investigation, and somewhat surprisingly to me, it seems that medical experts legitimately believe that swallowing these particular small metal objects are worse than swallowing garden-variety small metal objects because if you swallow e.g. 5 BB pellets then you'll pass 5 BB pellets but if you swallow 5 high-powered magnets you now have one single clump o' metal which is large/heavy/sharp enough to damage your intestinal tract. I probably still wouldn't ban them but, hey, worth noting. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2012-07-25/buckyballs-ban/56481316/1 http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2012-0...
  • gojomo 14y ago
    A single clump early would actually dodge the worst outcome: where two separate magnets, one ahead of the other around an intestinal curve, attach to each other through the intestinal wall.
  • evdawg 14y ago
    I think the big difference is that thumb tacks are not a toy. These are a toy. They're marketed as a toy. They're given to children as a toy.
    • deliciouscoffee 14y ago
      Even if they aren't given to children I don't think they set off the "hey this is really dangerous" alarm for a lot of people. Ideally an adult would play with these then count them all to make sure none are missing and store them out of reach of a child -- every single time with no mistakes or exceptions. Requiring that level of care kind of moves these out of the "toy" category in my mind.
    • adriand 14y ago
      Also, children are - rather obviously - more likely to put a smooth object in their mouths than a sharp pointy one, and also more likely to swallow it.
    • unreal37 14y ago
      I own a set of these. They are not given to children young enough to put them in their mouth. Parents who do so are irresponsible.
      • mturmon 14y ago
        I have a set too, and they are cool. I let my six-year-old play with them, because I trust her. She knows not to let her friends play with them. In the light of this suit, I'll have to reconsider that. They are really easy to lose, and if lost, they can be picked up and swallowed by a kid, and their parent would never know. The particular danger of strong, tiny magnets is quite non-obvious (inspecting the comments here makes that clear), even spooky. They are commonly sold at science centers, near children's toys, another indication that the marketing was done to kids, and not as just a desk toy. I've been dreading the day one of the ones I've lost gets sucked into the vacuum...no telling how much damage it could do if it sticks onto a gear. I'm not surprised about the suit.
        • mkramlich 14y ago
          > I have a set too, and they are cool. I let my six-year-old play with them, because I trust her. kids are random. much more so than adults. I strongly recommend you never let her access those things again. there's only downside, and the upside (fun, diversion, learning about magnets) can be had from alternate things, or at some future date when her judgment is better. plus give something to a kid, and it could easily end up in the hands/mouth of other kids. kids are random. they/we start life in fact with our heads full of all sorts of irrational/mythical beliefs, and a blurry line between imagination and reality. For example, the classic kid thought meme: if something looks like candy, it probably tastes like candy, it probably is candy.
          • fmax30 14y ago
            Woah, this totally reminded me of the time when i ate a brufen tablet when i was little thinking that it was candy. It even had the sugar coating. So basically kids are usually dumb and prone to random acts of craziness .
    • Sniffnoy 14y ago
      Is there no way we can say "They're a toy but not a children's toy"?
  • nnnnnnnn 14y ago
    Clumping (or more dangerous: aligning in a single rigid pole) is not the only danger. Multiple magnets, or magnets and other ferromagnetic objects can attract while in different portions of the bowel -- pinching two walls together. This will eventually cause the pinched wall between the magnets to die, forming a hole.
  • rdl 14y ago
    One of the other risks with magnets is that they'll be swallowed at slightly different times and be in the intestines slightly location (=time) shifted. Perforation and doom.
• daguar 14y ago
  I most certainly read this as OP swallowing a thumb tack.
• Cd00d 14y ago
  To be fair, swallowing magnets (multiple) is far more of a health risk than other small things babies tend to swallow (coins and detritus). I believe this is because the can stick together in a way that causes intestinal blockage makes holes in the intestines. The same high risk comes in watch and hearing aid batteries - it's not the size, but in this case the chemistry in the gut. I don't know the right solution. I love playing with Buckyballs, but am wary and hide them away when my 1 year old niece is around. I think an unfortunate problem is that toy stores are treated by many parents as "all of this is for children", even when labels say 3+ or adults only or whatever.