Letter to Robert S. Adler, Acting Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission - Klobuchar Urges Consumer Product Safety Commission to Protect Children from the Dangers of Small Rare-Earth Magnets

Letter

Dear Acting Chairman Adler:

I write to express my serious concerns regarding recent reports documenting an alarming increase in injuries to children who have ingested small rare-earth magnets and to request that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) investigate this matter and take steps to ensure that children are kept safe from these dangerous products.

According to the National Poison Data System, there have been more than 1,500 accidental ingestions of this type of magnet in 2019 alone. Due to their small size and strength--up to 10 times more powerful than ordinary magnets--these magnets can attract each other inside the intestine when swallowed by children, causing life-threatening injuries to the gastrointestinal tract, sometimes resulting in death.

Despite the clear hazard these magnets pose to children's health, there are currently no safety standards or regulations governing their sale or use. While ASTM International is currently developing voluntary safety standards, early reports suggest that the standard being developed will fail to place any limits on the size and strength of the magnets available for sale to the public. Although the CPSC issued safety standards restricting the size and strength of nonindustrial magnets sold to the public in 2014, those standards were invalidated in a legal challenge in 2016, and the CPSC has declined to issue new regulations--despite the urging of pediatricians and consumer groups.

The CPSC plays a critical role in ensuring the safety of our children, including investigating hazardous children's products and banning certain dangerous products from the market altogether. Given the seriousness of this issue, I urge the CPSC to revisit this issue and take action to protect children from the dangers of small rare-earth magnets. In addition, I respectfully request responses to the following questions:

What is the CPSC doing to investigate the incidence of injuries caused to children by the ingestion of small rare-earth magnets?
Does the CPSC need additional resources to investigate this issue and take appropriate measures to protect children from these products?
Does the CPSC believe that voluntary standards that fail to limit the size and strength of these magnets will adequately protect children from the safety risk presented by these dangerous products?
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to your response.

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