New York – Magnets Are the Number 1 Home Health Hazards.

Consumer Safety Alert.

New York – The Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified the top home health hazards. They’re products that people may be using everyday – while unaware of their dangers, the No. 1 home health hazard are magnets.

Magnets are linked to 86 injuries, and the tragic death of 22-month-old baby.

If two or more magnets, or a magnet and another metal object are swallowed separately, they can attract to one another through intestinal walls and get trapped in place.

The injury is hard to diagnose. Parents and physicians may think that the materials will pass through the child without consequence, but magnets can attract in the body and twist or pinch the intestines, causing holes, blockages, infection, and death, if not treated properly and promptly. [ap]