Dashmellow
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I decided to post this thread in the DIY forum rather than the Off Topic forum because it will probably be of particular interest to DIYers working with neodymium magnets, especially in the US market. (for now)
There was an article in yesterday's New York Times (9/11/14) regarding apparent safety issues regarding children ingesting rare earth magnets. There have been some severe injuries and fatalities when two or more neodymium magnets pinch together in the intestines cutting off blood supply to the stomach.
Much of the controversy has revolved around spherical magnets marketed as desktop novelty toy items for adults forcing at least one company marketing their product known as "Buckyballs" to shut down.
Magnets in children's toys have been regulated in the United States for many years but now under consideration are laws and regulations restricting the sale of, size of and power of magnets to adults. New standards are to be voted on in the next few weeks that would require magnets to be either too large for a child’s throat, or only about one-fiftieth as powerful as a Buckyball and other similar products. The founder of a company in Denver known as Zen Magnets which has been under pressure about its products says, “I think limitations are appropriate, but I think what they’re going for is not just limitation. They’re going for a death penalty for the product category.”
It remains to be seen how this type of regulation might effect DIY hobbyists or whether the restrictions might be limited to consumer products and magnet "sets" rather than "specialty items and parts" but our overprotective nanny state in its typical inimitable way may be about to make things difficult for us DIYers and so I wanted to make our dash cam DIYer community aware of this development.
Read the New York Times article HERE.
There was an article in yesterday's New York Times (9/11/14) regarding apparent safety issues regarding children ingesting rare earth magnets. There have been some severe injuries and fatalities when two or more neodymium magnets pinch together in the intestines cutting off blood supply to the stomach.
Much of the controversy has revolved around spherical magnets marketed as desktop novelty toy items for adults forcing at least one company marketing their product known as "Buckyballs" to shut down.
Magnets in children's toys have been regulated in the United States for many years but now under consideration are laws and regulations restricting the sale of, size of and power of magnets to adults. New standards are to be voted on in the next few weeks that would require magnets to be either too large for a child’s throat, or only about one-fiftieth as powerful as a Buckyball and other similar products. The founder of a company in Denver known as Zen Magnets which has been under pressure about its products says, “I think limitations are appropriate, but I think what they’re going for is not just limitation. They’re going for a death penalty for the product category.”
It remains to be seen how this type of regulation might effect DIY hobbyists or whether the restrictions might be limited to consumer products and magnet "sets" rather than "specialty items and parts" but our overprotective nanny state in its typical inimitable way may be about to make things difficult for us DIYers and so I wanted to make our dash cam DIYer community aware of this development.
Read the New York Times article HERE.
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