Less Toy Magnets Go up the Nose

It appears that most injuries associated with little magnets happen by ingestion, accounting for 52.4 percent of the magnet injury-related cases with children under the age of 13. Although magnets inserted up the nose was the second most common occurrence (34.8 percent) and a small percentage of magnets found their way into the ear (1.7 percent); what is clear, is that magnet-related injuries involving children is on the rise.

The Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) collected data from 14 emergency wards in hospitals across Canada . Of the 181 cases identified where the injury was associated with magnets between the years of 1993 – 2003, one can see a marked increase in injuries peaking in the last year of the study. Plastic toy magnets (e.g. refrigerator alphabet letters) accounted for 40 percent of the type of magnet involved in the injury, 30 percent were magnetic earring/nose rings and 17 percent were part of a magnetic toy set, such as building blocks or travel games.

Children aged 2-4 presented the largest percentage (32 percent) of all cases. Since most injuries occurred in the patient’s home between the hours of 4 and 8 p.m. ; Canada Safety Council would like to reiterate the timely message of young children requiring supervision. If you do own toys with magnetic pieces, take them out for play when you are able to watch your child play and ensure proper use. Choose age-appropriate toys and make sure that the older siblings put their magnetic toys away and out of reach of younger family members. Inspect your magnetic toys regularly to see if they are in good shape and throw away any toys with loose or broken magnets.

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		Less Toy Magnets Go up the Nose It appears that most injuries associated with little magnets happen by ingestion, accounting for 52.4 percent of the magnet injury-related cases with children under the age of 13. Although magnets inserted up the nose was the second most common occurrence (34.8 percent) and a small percentage of magnets found their way into the ear (1.7 percent); what is clear, is that magnet-related injuries involving children is on the rise. The Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) collected data from 14 emergency wards in hospitals across Canada . Of the 181 cases identified where the injury was associated with magnets between the years of 1993 – 2003, one can see a marked increase in injuries peaking in the last year of the study. Plastic toy magnets (e.g. refrigerator alphabet letters) accounted for 40 percent of the type of magnet involved in the injury, 30 percent were magnetic earring/nose rings and 17 percent were part of a magnetic toy set, such as building blocks or travel games. Children aged 2-4 presented the largest percentage (32 percent) of all cases. Since most injuries occurred in the patient’s home between the hours of 4 and 8 p.m. ; Canada Safety Council would like to reiterate the timely message of young children requiring supervision. If you do own toys with magnetic pieces, take them out for play when you are able to watch your child play and ensure proper use. Choose age-appropriate toys and make sure that the older siblings put their magnetic toys away and out of reach of younger family members. Inspect your magnetic toys regularly to see if they are in good shape and throw away any toys with loose or broken magnets. Return to top of page			Safety Canada (January 2008)