Child's Death Prompts Replacement Program of Magnetic Building Sets

March 31, 2006 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: All Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets

Units: About 3.8 million

Importer: Rose Art Industries Inc., of Livingston, N.J.

Hazard: Tiny magnets inside the plastic building pieces and rods can fall out. Magnets found by young children can be swallowed or aspirated. If more than one magnet is swallowed, the magnets can attract to each other and cause intestinal perforation or blockage, which can be fatal. This product is unsuitable for young children.

Incidents/Injuries: CPSC is aware of 34 incidents involving small magnets, including one death and four serious injuries. A 20-month-old boy died after he swallowed magnets that twisted his small intestine and created a blockage. Three children ages ranging from 3 to 8 had intestinal perforations that required surgery and hospitalization in intensive care. A 5-year-old child aspirated two magnets that were surgically removed from his lung.

Description: All Magnetix magnetic building sets including the X-treme Combo, Micro, and Extreme sets. The sets contain 20 to 200 plastic building pieces and 20 to 100 1/2-inch diameter steel balls. The building pieces are red, yellow, blue and green, and are shaped in 1 1/2-inch squares, 1-inch triangles and cylinder rods. Some plastic building pieces have "Magnetix" imprinted on them.

Sold at: Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Fred Meyer, Design Science Toys Ltd., A.C. Moore, and other toy and arts and crafts stores nationwide. The Magnetix magnetic building sets were sold from September 2003 through March 2006 for between $20 and $60, depending on the size of the set. The replacement program does not include sets at retail.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the magnetic sets and return the sets to Rose Art for a free replacement product suitable for young children under the age of 6. Consumers should be sure to keep all small magnet parts out of the hands of children who mouth objects, especially children under the age of three.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Rose Art at (800) 779-7122 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit Rose Art's Web site at www.roseart.com.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC's web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.asp. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.