Children Keep Ingesting High-Powered Magnets Despite Public Education, Age Restrictions; How To Solve This Problem?

Adults have been told to supervise their kids and keep small items away in the past years. However, despite the public education efforts, a new study revealed that children keep ingesting high-powered magnets.

Child Injuries From High-Powered Magnets

In the abstract titled "Socioeconomic Disparities in Pediatric High-Powered Magnet Ingestion Epidemiology and Outcomes," researchers examined data from patients aged 21 and under who had high-powered magnet insertion or ingestion injuries from 2017 to 2019. The findings came from a retrospective cohort study involving 25 children's hospitals in the United States. Researchers have previously discovered that these injuries are rising despite age limitations, warning labels, and public health campaigns highlighting the risks.

Seventy-four percent of the 594 high-powered magnet exposures included in the study came from socioeconomically affluent backgrounds. The study found that those kids needed more invasive treatments and operations, longer hospital stays, and more readmissions to save their lives, despite children from poorer socioeconomic families being less likely to experience or seek treatment for a high-powered magnet exposure.

The study also discovered that children from lower and higher socioeconomic backgrounds had varied injury conditions. For instance, it was less probable that kids from lower socioeconomic families were being directly watched by a caregiver when exposed. On the other hand, children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds were more likely to have parents who were aware of the dangers of swallowing these rare-earth, high-powered magnet toys. There was no difference in the length of time caregivers spent seeking medical attention or in the amount or quantity of magnets that kids ingested or inserted.

Rarely do parents imagine their child will "be so dumb as to swallow" magnets. Despite adult supervision and even though adults know that these magnets could be dangerous, youngsters do this increasingly frequently, according to Dr. Minna Wieck, MD, B.A., FAAP, assistant professor of pediatric surgery at UC Davis Children's Hospital. The safest method to prevent injuries is to take high-powered magnets out of any area where kids might be present because danger is inversely correlated with access.

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How To Avoid Injury From Magnet Ingestion?

Magnets can be found everywhere. They keep things in the refrigerator and keep the door closed. Unfortunately, typical home objects like toys also contain tiny magnets. Tiny magnets, such as those found in construction sets and other toys, can be fatal to children if they swallow more than one.

When swallowed separately, two or more magnetic components or charged metal objects may attract one another through the intestines. The magnets will become trapped in that location, leading to twisting, holes, infections, blood poisoning, and potentially even death. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has confirmed the death of a 20-month-old infant and the injuries and surgical needs of at least 19 additional young children.

Children still manage to ingest magnets and may require surgery to repair the internal damage brought on by the magnets, according to Wieck. It doesn't matter the child's socioeconomic or racial background, whether they are being watched or if supervising adults know that the magnets are dangerous. The expert suggested keeping these magnets away from children, noting that this is the only surefire way to ensure these injuries don't occur.