Child's Death Prompts Replacement Program of Magnetic recall
Child's Death Prompts Replacement Program of Magnetic Building Sets
Why was Child's Death Prompts Replacement Program of Magnetic recalled?
Magnets found by young children can be swallowed or aspirated. If more than one magnet is swallowed, the magnets can attract each other and cause intestinal perforation or blockage, which can be fatal. This product is unsuitable for young children.
What should I do if I have this product?
Consumers should stop using the magnetic sets and return the sets to Rose Art for a free replacement product suitable for young children under the age of 6. Consumers should be sure to keep all small magnet parts out of the hands of children who mouth objects, especially children under the age of three. Contact: For additional information, contact Rose Art at (800) 779-7122 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit Rose Art's Web site at www.roseart.com
What to do with a recalled product: refunds, receipts, safe disposal and how to report a problem.
Is my product affected?
Compare the item in your hand with every identifier below from the official CPSC record. Only products that match the listed product and identifiers are part of this recall.
- Product
- All Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets
- Company
- Rose Art Industries Inc., of Livingston, N.J.
- Quantity
- About 3.8 million
- Sold at
- Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Fred Meyer, Design Science Toys Ltd., A.C. Moore, and other toy and arts and crafts stores nationwide. The Magnetix magnetic building sets were sold from September 2003 through March 2006 for between $20 and $60, depending on the size of the set. The replacement program does not include sets at retail.
- Recall date
- March 31, 2006
- Incidents / injuries
- 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.
- Agency
- CPSC
Product description
All Magnetix magnetic building sets, including the X-treme Combo, Micro, and Extreme sets. The sets contain 20 to 200 plastic building pieces and 20 to 100 1/2-inch diameter steel balls. The building pieces are red, yellow, blue and green, and are shaped in 1 1/2-inch squares, 1-inch triangles and cylinder rods. Some plastic building pieces have "Magnetix" imprinted on them.