4 ms·

So, what happens in animals who swallow magnets is that on occasion, two magnets or a magnet and another object can be in different windy bits of the intestinal

So, what happens in animals who swallow magnets is that on occasion, two magnets or a magnet and another object can be in different windy bits of the intestinal tract and stick together, pinching two otherwise unconnected parts of the intestine together, sometimes kinking them together sufficiently to cause a blockage, which doctors say could cause perforation of the intestine or other very bad things. So as many wild accusations folks want to level at the government over this there is a medical rational for their action. See: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57390647-10391704/3-year-old-swallows-37-buckyball-magnets-survives/ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57390647-10391704/3-y... (and sure you can claim this is just bad parenting, but look how many folks in this thread don't understand that this could be a threat)

deliciouscoffee 14y ago
Your last line is an excellent point and really the crux of the issue. These buckyballs are marketed as a toy and widely understood to be a toy. Just glancing at the website there's "NOT A TOY" in large font but a little further down is a quote saying "There's no better desktoy". It's not surprising that there is some confusion. People just don't associate magnets with danger and the toy-ness of this product certainly doesn't help.
- lambda 14y ago
  But toys aren't necessarily for kids. There are many toys which are intended for adults. Now, in some cases they may be called things other than toys (fashion accessories, schwag, sports equipment, sex toys), but at their heart, they are toys, just toys targeted to adults, not kids. Should every one of those that's dangerous be banned because it might be mistaken for a toy for a kid? Does the fact that a vibrator or handcuffs are sold as "sex toys" mean that they should meet all of the safety guidelines for children's toys? Or should we say, maybe, that people should just exercise better judgement themselves; that people should realize that a collection of many small round magnets that are easily lost and difficult to do anything with without some fairly fine manual dexterity probably isn't the best toy for someone who might be tempted to eat them?
  - jobu 14y ago
    Agreed, but BuckyBalls look very harmless to most adults and kids (they're basically beads), so most people don't put much care into hiding them from young kids. Also the Reuters story mentions one kid thought they were chocolates: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-usa-buckyballs-idUSBRE86O1LN20120725 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-usa-buckyballs-...
irq 14y ago
Some animals are purposely fed magnets to improve their health. For example, the Cow Magnet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_magnet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_magnet
- joshschreuder 14y ago
  It's only one magnet though, more could span a pipe and cause a blockage or trap internal linings as described above.
  - irq 14y ago
    The cows have magnets because they eat metal. The danger for humans isn't just 2 magnets, it's 1 magnet + something ferrous, of which a magnet is just one possibility.
- mistercow 14y ago
  I think the key point there is that a cow magnet is large enough that it never gets past the rumen. Also, if a swallowed magnet hurt 0.1% of cows, but helped the rest because cows inadvertently eat lots of metal objects, then those 0.1% are seen as necessary collateral damage in the meat and dairy industry. On the other hand, if swallowed magnets hurt 0.1% (they don't, but bear with me) of kids, then it isn't seen as a necessary evil.
andrewfelix 14y ago
Other things marketed as playful or safe for kids in the US; - Bicycles (Over 500 deaths a year) - Battery powered toys (Roughly 2500 battery ingestions a year, Roughly 2% Fatality Rate) - Bottles, Pacifiers etc. (2200 ER Injuries per year)
- pessimizer 14y ago
  You're being deceptive. How many deaths per bicycle, per battery, and per bottle?
  - andrewfelix 14y ago
    You're quite right I am being somewhat deceptive to make a point. However to my knowledge there are no deaths related to Buckyballs, and the rate of ingestion is something like 0.0000048%.
    - pessimizer 14y ago
      Well, lets say serious injuries requiring emergency surgery, then - and lets find the actual statistics.
      - deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
      - andrewfelix 14y ago
        There is only 1 listed victim for Buckyball injury requiring surgery. So 1 surgery for 2.5million Buckyball products sold thus far. I'm gonna take a gamble and say the rate for bicycles is going to be worse than that.
  - mturmon 14y ago
    Agreed. Some other factors...these are a toy, having no other useful function. And, perhaps they could be designed to be more safe. There are lots of other magnet toys that are more safe.
  - 14y ago

deliciouscoffee 14y ago

Your last line is an excellent point and really the crux of the issue. These buckyballs are marketed as a toy and widely understood to be a toy. Just glancing at the website there's "NOT A TOY" in large font but a little further down is a quote saying "There's no better desktoy". It's not surprising that there is some confusion. People just don't associate magnets with danger and the toy-ness of this product certainly doesn't help.

lambda 14y ago
But toys aren't necessarily for kids. There are many toys which are intended for adults. Now, in some cases they may be called things other than toys (fashion accessories, schwag, sports equipment, sex toys), but at their heart, they are toys, just toys targeted to adults, not kids. Should every one of those that's dangerous be banned because it might be mistaken for a toy for a kid? Does the fact that a vibrator or handcuffs are sold as "sex toys" mean that they should meet all of the safety guidelines for children's toys? Or should we say, maybe, that people should just exercise better judgement themselves; that people should realize that a collection of many small round magnets that are easily lost and difficult to do anything with without some fairly fine manual dexterity probably isn't the best toy for someone who might be tempted to eat them?
- jobu 14y ago
  Agreed, but BuckyBalls look very harmless to most adults and kids (they're basically beads), so most people don't put much care into hiding them from young kids. Also the Reuters story mentions one kid thought they were chocolates: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-usa-buckyballs-idUSBRE86O1LN20120725 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-usa-buckyballs-...

irq 14y ago

Some animals are purposely fed magnets to improve their health. For example, the Cow Magnet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_magnet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_magnet

joshschreuder 14y ago
It's only one magnet though, more could span a pipe and cause a blockage or trap internal linings as described above.
- irq 14y ago
  The cows have magnets because they eat metal. The danger for humans isn't just 2 magnets, it's 1 magnet + something ferrous, of which a magnet is just one possibility.
mistercow 14y ago
I think the key point there is that a cow magnet is large enough that it never gets past the rumen. Also, if a swallowed magnet hurt 0.1% of cows, but helped the rest because cows inadvertently eat lots of metal objects, then those 0.1% are seen as necessary collateral damage in the meat and dairy industry. On the other hand, if swallowed magnets hurt 0.1% (they don't, but bear with me) of kids, then it isn't seen as a necessary evil.

andrewfelix 14y ago

Other things marketed as playful or safe for kids in the US; - Bicycles (Over 500 deaths a year) - Battery powered toys (Roughly 2500 battery ingestions a year, Roughly 2% Fatality Rate) - Bottles, Pacifiers etc. (2200 ER Injuries per year)

pessimizer 14y ago
You're being deceptive. How many deaths per bicycle, per battery, and per bottle?
- andrewfelix 14y ago
  You're quite right I am being somewhat deceptive to make a point. However to my knowledge there are no deaths related to Buckyballs, and the rate of ingestion is something like 0.0000048%.
  - pessimizer 14y ago
    Well, lets say serious injuries requiring emergency surgery, then - and lets find the actual statistics.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - andrewfelix 14y ago
      There is only 1 listed victim for Buckyball injury requiring surgery. So 1 surgery for 2.5million Buckyball products sold thus far. I'm gonna take a gamble and say the rate for bicycles is going to be worse than that.
- mturmon 14y ago
  Agreed. Some other factors...these are a toy, having no other useful function. And, perhaps they could be designed to be more safe. There are lots of other magnet toys that are more safe.
- 14y ago