This news update discussing the Safety Standard for Magnet Sets is brought to you by The National Law Review.
We do not typically take positions on product specific issues pending before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”), but the CPSC’s new safety standard for magnet sets demonstrates both why the agency exists and how it can use its regulatory authority to protect consumers. In enacting the safety standard, the agency did not eradicate what are commonly referred to as “rare earth magnets” from the marketplace. Instead, the CPSC set a minimum level of safety for certain types of magnet sets based on the data necessary to take such action under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), the CPSC’s organic statute.
The practical effect of the CPSC’s action will be to prohibit the sale of magnet sets composed of small but very powerful magnets that have proven both extremely attractive and hazardous to children. Although these types of magnet sets were marketed to adults to manipulate into various shapes for entertainment or stress relief, the individual magnets found their way into the hands, and ultimately, the mouths of children. When accidentally swallowed, the magnets can bond and become trapped within the digestive system in a manner that can cause severe internal damage.
Summarizing the rationale for his vote, Commissioner Mohorovic said in his closing statement at the CPSC’s decisional meeting:
“Without the requirements set forth in this rule, small and powerful magnets would continue to present what I consider the quintessential latent hazard to young children.”
For more information regarding the Safety Standard for Magnet Sets, please visit The National Law Review link above. Please contact Nexreg for Label Services.
