Health Canada Recall Alert - Dangers of Swallowing Small Magnetic Parts from Mega Brands Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets

Issue

Health Canada is alerting the public to the danger to children of all ages posed by toys with small, powerful magnets or certain toys with small powerful magnetic parts. When more than one powerful magnet is swallowed in a short period of time, the magnets can attract one another while moving through the intestines. This can cause the intestines to twist, creating blockages or tearing of the intestinal walls. The results of swallowing small powerful magnets can be very serious and life-threatening. Swallowing incidents have often resulted in considerable damage to the gastrointestinal tissues and required emergency surgical treatment. For survivors, there can be serious lifelong health problems.
Health Canada recently received an incident report involving a three year old child who swallowed two magnetic parts (2.7 cm long rods) from a Mega Brands Magnetix Magnetic Building Set. The child received swift medical attention and sustained no injury.

Products affected:

Mega Brands Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets, sold in Canada from 2006 to 2009.
887,000 units from over 100 different Magnetix sets were sold in Canada. They contained up to 350 plastic building pieces in an assortment of colours (primary) and finishes (metallic, translucent and glow in the dark). The building pieces included 2.54 cm triangles, cylinder rods, flexors and curves, as well as 1.25 cm diameter steel balls.
Due to numerous serious injuries requiring emergency medical treatment, and one fatality in the United States in 2005, Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets sold before April 2006 were recalled in Canada in 2007. For these toys the small, powerful magnets were prone to separate from their plastic parts. Both younger and older children were involved in swallowing incidents. Mega Brands redesigned their Magnetix magnetic building parts so that the small, powerful magnets were more securely attached. Building sets with these modified parts were sold in Canada from April 2006 to March 2009. Even though the small magnets were no longer detaching during play, many of the magnetic building parts in these sets were small enough to be swallowed by a child, as was the case in the recent incident where two rods were swallowed.
At the time these products were originally sold, they met the relevant requirements for safety; however, those requirements have evolved. Today, certain toys with powerful magnets are considered a serious danger to children of all ages. These toys have powerful magnetic parts that are small enough to be swallowed or have small, powerful magnets that separate from parts.

What you should do

Consumers should immediately and safely discard all Mega Brands Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets. They are also reminded to discard any older-style Magnetix magnetic toys that were recalled in 2007. The toys should be disposed of in normal household garbage in such a way that they cannot be used or re-sold. Please note that the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act prohibits recalled products from being redistributed, sold or even given away in Canada.