Magnetix Building Sets Recalled

This actually happened a couple of weeks ago, but I just ran across it last night… The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a product recall for Magnetix building sets. This is a pretty scary one, as some rather nasty things have already happened.

According to the recall:

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.

Not only is are these things unsuitable for young kids in theory, but check out what has already happened:

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.

This recall affects all Magnetix building sets. If you have any of these, the CPSC advises you to stop using them and return them to Rose Art Insutries, Inc. for a free replacement product that is more suitable for young kids. You can get in touch with Rose Art by calling (800) 779-7122 between 8AM-6PM ET, Monday through Friday (or drop by their web site).

According to another article that I just ran across, Rose Art claims to have fixed the problem as of January 2006, but their products were never pulled from store shelves. Moreover, they don’t put date stamps on their packaging, so it’s impossible to tell if a store is selling the old or new version.