Slashdot Mirror
Feds Ban 'Buckyballs' Magnets
SicariusMan writes "Looks like warnings and other precautions were not enough to save Buckyballs Magnets. According to this report, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is concerned about the increase in children swallowing the rare earth magnets, and has issued its first stop-sale order in 11 years. Amazon and others have already agreed to stop selling the toys. 'Although the commission issued a safety alert in November, it has received more than a dozen reports since then of children ingesting the magnets, with many requiring surgery, it said. More than 2 million Buckyballs and at least 200,000 Buckycubes, a similar cube-shaped magnet, have been sold in the United States.'"
How about a ban on stupid trailer-park dumbass kids who ruin it for the rest of us?
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
Thanks to Woot! I now own several million Buckyball magnets. I was waiting for the rare Earth metal market to skyrocket before cashing in, but this may be my chance. Hello Ebay!
What's so special about these magnets?
Children can swallow any kind of magnet you find in toys.
It should be up to the parents to ensure the child is old enough not to swallow the damn thing.
Next up: crayons banned because kids stick them up their nose.
Soon we'll be battling the Buckyball cartels in the streets of America. I say end prohibition now!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Something that can be dangerous when grossly misused can be outright banned.
They also spend quite a bit of resources confiscating Kinder egg surprise (50,000 a year according to an article I read), because there is an "unintuitive" toy inside the chocolate egg and a child may swallow it
Stupid kids and stupid parents, thank you.
I wish we helped evolution instead of hindered it.
To hell with society.
If anything small sells 2 million units, there is a good chance that 1:100,000 will end up in the tummy of a toddler... How many pennies, buttons, or rocks get swallowed each year? This is just another gift to the trial lawyers who can now sue for negligence.
So how many parents of magnet-eating children have been prosecuted for abuse/neglect? It's not like they don't know - the warning is on the package.
They'll just give their toddlers some bullets to play with. I mean really. Anybody who doesn't have the sense to know if their kid is still in the "wants to taste everything" stage will just as easily give them live ammo.
I have two sets of buckyballs at home. Kinda wish I had bought more. Well, at least these will become a collectable eventually since I haven't lost any of them. Looks like they're going the way of chemistry sets or anything else even remotely scientific advertised towards kids learning new things.
This is a case of the government overstepping. Would it not be better for our country to ban stupid kid? They tend to grow up and become stupid adults.
It's amusing how the manufacturer personally blamed Obama for everything that has happened.
You see? This is why we can't have nice things, Barry!
You mean the guys who shop at Think Geek procreate?
Oh fuck.
Why not make them large enough to be impossible to swallow? :)
But, but, is this ban valid for Canada too?
If not, you, people, know what to do, just like the black people some 100years ago.
Does that mean we should buy as many as we can now or is it possible that the ban would get lifted if they marketed them as adult only products?
I threw away a set recently, although my main concern was my two large dogs, not my 2 year old daughter. Also, obligatory Onion... http://www.theonion.com/articles/fun-toy-banned-because-of-three-stupid-dead-kids,290/
I have 7 sets of them. Well... technically about 6.7 sets. It's hard not to lose one here or there when you play with them nearly daily. I'm just glad that I got them now, before the ban... they are my third favorite toy, behind my computer and my phone. I make bracelets out of multiple colors as transient art (lost as soon as they stretch out and get rearranged), play with them on my desk, and use them as temporary tie tacks if I leave my mine at home.
Yes, tie tack. Don't knock it, it works!
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
The article states that dozens of children have swallowed the magnets and 12 required surgery. There are over 60M children age 14 and younger in the US. Isn't this a bit of an over-reaction? I'm curious as to how many children have had problems after swalling coins and other items that people may have on their desk (ie paper clips, thumb tacks, etc.)?
Seems the shootings in Colorado hurt a lot more people, but for some reason, they haven't banned the sale of bullets.
Why don't we ban cigarettes, prescription medication, automobiles, power tools, and crime, since they are even more dangerous than magnets?
Looks like I'll just have to get my kid Lawn Darts for Christmas instead.
Guns and bullets are fine though.
Blind stupidity is more valuable than intelligence.
Bleach...McDonalds...Burger King....Mr Muscle...Weightlifting....Kettles with long leads....bricks...heavy objects...coins....forks....knives...fire...water...etc.
Something wrong with this picture...what's wrong with lots of rare earth magnets?
I modded you flamebait, but decided I'd rather tell you to your face that this comment is every bit as ignorant and prejudiced as any I've heard uttered by the so-called trailer trash I've encountered. I don't know if this really reflects your beliefs or you're just trying to be controversial, but at face value that's stereotypical trailer-trash talk.
I'd hope ./ readers would understand powerful rare earth magnets are a fundamentally different danger when swallowed than, say, small plastic bits or pennies. As noted in TFA, magnets will connect to each other and pinch/tear/destroy important things like stomachs and intestines. Other stuff you may swallow won't do that.
I don't necessarily agree with the CPSC's actions, but it's a different kettle of fish than the typical "dangerous" small object.
12 cases of ingestion over a period of roughly 8 months... and only "most" of them required surgery, so maybe something like 8 surgeries. I'm curious how much blocking this will cost the economy for each case of surgery that is prevented (assuming those same kids won't get themselves into the ER with something equally small and tasty), and whether or not more lives could be saved by merely having the company donate some portion of their Buckyball profits to a children's hospital.
This doesn't make sense. So, you're allowed to sell stuff like beads, ball bearings, tiny pieces of lego, screws, nuts, bolts, pebbles, and a trillion other small things but not these magnets? I'm a little bit confused.
First I thought this was another nanny-state ban. But it looks like they are dangerous for small children. The problem is if you swallow more then one, they will bond through the wall of an intestine loop. So you can't egest them normally and require a surgery to remove them.
Uh-oh someone rocked your trailer in the wrong way.
Uranium and bleach
Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
Me and my brother recieved the silver Buckyball cubes as Christmas gifts a few years back. These things are a blast to play with.
When one of the balls on my brothers set shattered, we called one of the listed numbers for the company to ask about maybe purchasing a replacement ball. The person on the other end was extremely interested in how this happened (apparently they hadn't had a report of a ball shattering before), and offered to send us an entire new set for free. On Christmas day. This was excellent, excellent support for an awesome product.
It's sad to hear about this.
I'm not saying lets kill all the stupid people, I'm just suggesting we remove all the warning labels and let nature sort it out.
I've never wanted to own a set of those before, but I'll be purchasing several now they're illegal. Were these seriously marketed towards children? I've never had that impression from any of the ones for sale I've seen.
"Don't give small objects to children too young and/or stupid not to fill their breathing hole with anything that will fit or they might die" should really be enough of a warning.
Freaking commie guberment!!! You'll get my buckyballs if you pry them from my cold dead hands!!!!
how is the DMCA notices going to save you now, suckers?
It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070815154430.htm
Makes Buckyballs look pretty safe and the Consumer Product Safety Commission look pretty misguided.
I think the sales of Zen Magnets are about to increase...
(For those who don't know, Zen Magnets are *exactly* the same thing as buckyballs except for a very slight increase in quality and price. That would also mean they'd be more dangerous due to higher magnetic strength.)
I've got the nanny state blues, man.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/774838-overview reports over 56,000 cases of ingestion of small batteries since 1985. When death occurs it is when the batteries get lodged in the esophagus or airway.
Can you say nanny-government?
from amazon.ca and have them shipped over the border to the "land of the free" (cough).
Ban all cleaning products, ban knifes and any other tool, ban anything that has a hard surface and weights more than 2 pounds... The guns however are sacred and completely harmless.
if my kid wants to eat toxic chemicals thats his choice!
The solution is simple, ban the smaller ones and supply 2 inch cubed neodymium versions instead. They'll have a tough job swallowing those!
Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
It's probably only because they market it as a toy. Just change the target and the will be back (18+ "Highly toxic art", perhaps)
from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
Glad I got 4 packages of them through Woot last year, then. My 10-year old son is smart enough to not eat them, and also capable of making cool things and shapes with them. I'm pretty sure they won't be fatal.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
Ya, think of the children.
Get them while you can:
GetBuckyballs ($35-40 for 216 balls)
BustedTees ($30 for 216 balls)
Neatoshop ($35 for 216 balls)
Judge how reputable the shops are for yourself. I'm not vouching for any of them.
I hate our government, seriously. Maybe I should forward the following list to the CPSC. I'm pretty sure most of the items on the list have caused more than 12 cases of choking and/or surgery since November. They've got a lot of banning to do!
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the following items are common choking hazards:
Hot dogs and sausages
Chunks of meat
Grapes
Hard candy
Popcorn
Peanuts and other nuts
Raw carrots
Fruit seeds
Apple chunks
Coins
Toys with small parts
Small balls and marbles
Balloons
Arts and crafts materials
Ballpoint pen caps
Watch batteries
Jewelry
It's a shame this post was modded down. I'd personally prefer to reward dudes with mod-points who decide against using them just to say "I disagree".
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
It would appear that you are the only "flamer" who was "baited"
They are still available on their web site. Get them while you can!!!
Why is it that most of the people that I encounter seem to have been shat from the Sphincter of Mediocrity?
The company website getbuckyballs.com seems to think the Feds can shove it! Still proudly pushing their balls all over the internet and directly into the faces of the CPSC.
I am a bit sad that some other retailers like ThinkGeek seem to have taken down the buckyballs as well.
https://www.getbuckyballs.com/buckyballs-only-marketed-to-adults-cpsc-press-release/
From the press release:
"Before filing the lawsuit and giving Maxfield and Oberton the opportunity to defend itself and its products, CPSC systematically began contacting its retailers giving them 48 hours to tell the government that they would stop selling Buckyballs® and Buckycubes. Some retailers capitulated to this so-called voluntary request for fear of retribution if they did not acquiesce.
"Obviously the bureaucrats see danger everywhere, and those responsible people – like our company who have vigorously promoted safety and appropriate use of our products – gets put out of business by an unfair and arbitrary process," said Craig Zucker, Founder and CEO of Maxfield and Oberton "I don't understand how and why they did this without following their own rules before allowing us to make our case. It almost seems like they simply wanted to put our products and industry out of business."
Finally, CPSC is giving Maxfield an opportunity to defend its products but only after ruining its retailer base through intimidation tactics. "
Well, I, for one, am supporting them and have purchased two sets.
Its probably a good thing and not for the stated reasons. A magnetic field of less than 50nT can induce visual hallucinations under the right circumstances. Playing with these in an office could inadvertently drive your co-workers nuts.
If a kid sticks a fork in a toaster, do we ban toasters? No. What makes this an different? Also, there have been 12 injuries in 6 months? Any sport gets hundreds of times that. Do we ban excersize now too?
It's simply a labeling issue:
http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml10/10251.html
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Wow. Slashdotters sure like their buckyballs.
Thank you! Modding down is censorship at its best. A mod up does not mean that you agree, just that the post was on topic and possibly either thought provoking or funny. Too many people here use the mod points as a way of saying "I don't agree" as opposed to saying "that is an interesting point that deserves more comments"
The bigger shame is that the parent comment to mine has been modded +5 Insightful... not even +5 Funny, but Insightful. WTF? What does that tell us about the current average Slashdot moderator mindset? Is it tribalism, crazyjj's buddies all mindlessly modding him up, or is it inbreeding?
We should let the free market decide what is safe for kids. If people want their kids to have invasive surgery, then the Chinese should be allowed to sell products that will accomplish that. caveat emptor!
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
I grabbed some kits off Ebay before they disappear.
Nothing pisses me off more than the career Bureaucrats in Washington telling me what toys I can buy and cannot buy.
So, now I have a lifetime supply, and enough to pass on to all my progeny.
I would never have bothered buying them otherwise.
Buckyballs (and similar products) seem to have been declining in popularity for some time now, but with this new regulation they'll be selling like hotcakes again, just not through Amazon, etc. I would actually guess that overall, this will INCREASE the number of these products in the hands of consumers (and help fill the pockets of profiteers as well).
Fuckin' magnets! How do they kill?
It's summertime. The self-centered teens have nothing to do but bitch about how everyone's keeping them down.
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
It's easy, mod up responses that disagree.
How many kids were KILLED in car accidents in the same period of time? I think the benevolent Consumer Product Safety Commission should issue a stop-sale on automobiles immediately. It's the only safe thing to do.
proving Americans parents are retarded on a daily basis (way to prove the world wrong...)
For everyone outside the US. Hopefully an over supply will result in lower prices for everyone else at the expense of US citizens, caused by the stupidity of US children and their parents.
The real reason this is banned is because Obama HATES magnets. It's a huge conspiracy to restrict trade in magnets. First buckyballs, next you wont be able to buy magnets everywhere. Why you ask? To get rid of Mitt Romney bumper stickers.
catchpa: shudders
To clear up some confusion I found the source on CPSC's own site. It's slightly more informational than the Reuters summary... But I'm still confused.
I bought tiny fridge magnets from The Container Store that are actually tiny neodymium cubes, are they banned also? Are they exempt because they're not toys?
How about just plain neodymium magnets direct from suppliers? Are they banned also or are they exempt because they're not labeled as toys?
How about a hobby brushless motor kit that comes with neodymium magnets? Is that banned also or is that exempt because even though it's a toy the magnets are supplied with the purpose of installing them in the motor?
So many unanswered questions... I think it would be easier to require all kids to wear muzzles to keep their mouth closed at all times. It would solve all the issues where kids choke on things or eat poisonous/dangerous materials, and has added benefit of muffling their annoying whiny cries.
Well, I was hoping to wait for another sale - but discovering that aliexpress has them for sale and nice low prices - still.
Order up!
I see stupid people. I do not have special powers, I'm in the USA.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
there hasn't been a single death from buckyballs.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
damn it
So the rest of us have to pay because there are stupid parents.. that's just great.
Magnets don't hurt kids, irresponsible parents who don't keep harmful things away from their kids and don't pay attention to what their kids are doing, hurt kids. Are you going to be banning every possible small object that could be swallowed by a child now?
Bow before me, for I am root.
Let me get this straight: A bunch of geeks are all pissed because the prevention of harm and death to young kids is preventing them from buying more of the toys they already have.
Seriously, get a clue. Find another toy and stfu plz.
Banning the sales of ammo would be unconstitutional, regardless of any statistic.
While that illustrates how broken the US constitution is what about bleach or any one of a number of other household products which are lethal if swallowed? If adults are going to let kids play with dangerous items those kids are at risk of serious injury or death. So, to be consistent, either you have to accept that or you have to ban from sale any product (that you legally can) that may harm someone if swallowed.
If you are still wondering why us Canadian are richer then the USA is cause we can still sell and buy stuff here lol
you even frigging band chocolate eggs with a toy inside for god sake.
'Illegal' Kinder Eggs get U.S. men border detention - CBC News
Two Seattle men say they spent more than two hours in a detention center at the Canadian border
after U.S. border agents discovered illegal chocolate eggs in their car.
Oh well on the bright side at least you will not choke on a toy this year.
P.
Hey instead of letting our government decide what we can and cant purchase for cases like this how about we put a ban on stupid parents who would buy something like this for a child smal enough to not understand that swallowing it is bad. Next thing you know legos will get banned.
... If happy fun ball begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/happy-fun-ball/229058/
Name: Mr. Anon E Mouse; SSN: 555-55-5555
TFA talks about surgery to take out the magnets
Are the surgeries truly needed?
I have the impression that perhaps it maybe a case of "over prescription", but then, I am no medical doctor
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Surely Mainway Toys will find a way to keep marketing tiny, super-powerful magnets.
ban airplanes. They can crash into a builing and make it collapse. I've seen it happen! TWICE! ON THE SAME DAY!!!!
ban Batman!! It can kill people by docens! I've seen it happen! 12 in the same teathre! AT THE SAME TIME!!!
ban U.S.A.!! It does KILL inocents all around the world EVERY FUCKING DAY!!!
Even if you swallow some balls, but not at once, you will need to go to the surgery.
Correct - you will need surgery but nobody has yet died. However if you look at the stats for accidental poisonings in the US you will see that there are 41,592 deaths every year. 91% of these are due to drugs which leaves 3,473 deaths every year due to non-drug related poisonings. It is not clear how many of these are due to kids swallowing household chemicals but you have to wonder why there is any need to ban something over 12 surgeries and zero deaths given the number of actual deaths from swallowing things.
They can have my Buckyballs when they pry them from my cold, dead.... intestines.
nonsig. unsig. desig.
I support magnets killing people.
If little johnny eats magnets. He does not get to grow up and have kids of his own.
The problem will solve itself.
Does nobody remember the rare earths export restrictions that the Chinese instituted after flooding the world market for years? Yeah, this might not only be about a toy that has potential health hazards if used irresponsibly.
The children who are probably swallowing these are likely siblings. Unfortunately we can't or shouldn't protect children from every possible danger. However I can see the issue here. It is a serious outcome and not just some kid getting hit with something that hurts/damages. Maybe a better approach is prohibiting the marketing of said product to children and putting warning labels “Not for young children: swallowing magnets can kill”.
That recall you are citing was in 2010.
This just in! The American government has now banned anything and everything that a child could possibly fit into its mouth, including food!
In other news, the government has also banned anyone from saying anything that might ever be considered offensive by anyone, under penalty of death. Immediately after creating this law, since literally everyone was offended by it, the government died.
And there was much rejoicing.
In Soviet Russia, dot slashes YOU!
If we keep banning the ways stupid people off their own young, how are we going to avoid Idiocracy???
http://news.yahoo.com/drowning-leading-cause-kids-accidental-death-cdc-180609851.html
Well, since drowning is the leading cause of death for children, I sure hope they ban water soon.
I have no idea if this is even possible, but what if they impregnated the magnets with a foul taste? Maybe babies/toddlers don't swallow everything that goes in their mouths right away, and a foul taste would help them make the right decision and spit them out.
Fuck you and you're bogus metamoderation. You are a stupid cunt who deservedly gets modded down all the time.
I just read no less tha10 people saying they think it is crazy to ban buckyballs but allow guns. The irony of this is too much to take. One one hand it is wrong for the government to step up and say
"magnets can hurt children, we should regulate their sale"
But on the other it is is fine for them to say
"no 32 ounce sodas"
"you can't turn left across the highway"
"you must wear a seatbelt"
"you can't own a gun"
Some of them have been made law, some of them have not. There really is no difference between any of them at the most basic level. You ask government to regulate the things YOU want regulated and complain when they regulate that and everything everyone else wants.
I hear the bs "nanny state" thrown around, but truthfully we threw our rights away a long time ago...
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What does it mean to you?
Let's look at the facts..
In their press release (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12234.html), the CSPC states "Since 2009, CPSC staff has learned of more than two dozen ingestion incidents, with at least one dozen involving Buckyballs. Surgery was required in many of incidents."
Let's do the math. If the number of children, 14 years of age or younger, in the United States was approximately 60,000,000 in 2010, then the probability of any one of them requiring surgery if all 24 known incidents required surgery would be 1 in 2,500,000. If the probability of being struck by lightning were 1 in 1,000,000 (estimates seem to between 1 in 500,000 and 1 an 1,000,000 depending on where you look), that would mean a child is 2.5 times more likely to be struck by lightning than swallow 2 or more buckyballs and require surgery. (http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&idim=country:US&dl=en&hl=en&q=population+of+the+united+states#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=population&fdim_y=country:US&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=age_group&idim=age_group:3:2:1&ifdim=age_group&hl=en_US&dl=en&ind=false)
According to asktheodds.com, your chance of dying in a car accident in any given year are between 1 in 4000 and 1 in 8000. Dying in a tornado? 1 in 60,000. If you go skydiving once a year, the odds you'll die are 1 in 100,000.
Now of those of us that have children, I'd wager that most (including me) expose our kids to the death trap that is an automobile quite often, and at times when we could walk instead. I also hear that there are people who expose their children to a higher risk of death by tornado by living in those areas where tornadoes are more common.
My point here (I almost forgot I had one) is that we do many things that are far more likely to kill our children than purchase buckyballs. It is completely irrational to blow taxpayer money to take a product that has injured somewhere around 24 kids over a 3 year period off the market.
I'm sorry, my probability was a little off. I lumped all 24 reports in one year rather than distributing it among the three, so it'd actually be 1 in 7,500,000.
well at least the demand for them will drop and the prices soon too..... i'm sorry for the sick kids, but they have stupid and/or lazy parents, ridiculous that government has to legislate common sense....
The magnets are still available for sale, but some retailers agreed to pull them because the CPSC asked them to.
You can still buy them from the company's website.
The recall was a long time ago to clarify the packaging and all the current products clearly say not for children and specifically mention the danger of swallowing them.
The owner of the business must be republican because he uses it as an opportunity to bash Obama, but he is also playing this up for the same reason all small business owners tend to hyperventilate about everything - publicity to drum up sales.
The CPSC -is- suing the maker in an attempt to get them banned but I highly doubt the lawsuit will succeed. Frankly I'd rather they go after all the snake oil peddlers and herbal supplement/homeopathic makers. That shit does far more damage to many thousands of people every year. Or maybe we could break up the telco/cable dualopoly but fat chance.
Natural != (nontoxic || beneficial)
It's not my fault you developed an opinion before reading the article.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Why do I get the feeling it's for another reason than safety.
Anyone remember the Wham-O Blow Gun ? I remember as a 8 or 9 year old my brother getting one. It would shoot a dart 1/4" or so into the side of our house. I think our parents saw the holes because one day it was just gone and my Dad told us it had been recalled. That was a dangerous toy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthetube/2461920607/
"Lets make a toy that looks totally innocent, but could kill you if swallowed, in fact lets make it look like popular cake decorations, hey better yet lest also make make them in tempting candy colours, like pink, green and orange."
and you don't think that will cause problems?
In the same way you lock up your sweet lookalike medicines, these too pose a threat.
Medicines have a huge benefit, this is a freaking silly desktoy, how much surgery and death is it worth?
Ban buckyballs but not jaw-breakers?
TOP DSLR Cameras Reviews of the top DSLRs
Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week!
The CB App. What's your 20?
They'll pry my balls from my cold, dead hands.
So, you're trying to argue that if every household has access to guns, this doesn't lead to any killings?
Everyone who gets killed in a gunfight is a drug meddler or a gang member ? So you don't count those people as really people, do you ?
Guns and bullets kill people, period. The more we have those goddamn guns and bullets in our houses, the more people will get killed as a side product of this. .. uhm yes, if you want to cut down the population of this planet, then yes.
Banning guns does more harm than good
GeoKone.NET
Disgusted.... Just disgusted.
The kid in the story was 4 years old and swallowed three magnets, claiming he thought they were chocolate...
Which to anyone who knows anything about kids, knows this is complete and utter bullshit. Kids that age don't think, they put anything in their mouth and 99% of parenting is trying to stop them doing that. Dog owners know what I am talking about.
So, we ban anything that kids can swallow that is bad for them. In Europe, the new thing in laundry is small pouches with enough liquid inside for one wash. You just drop them in the washing machine. They are not that common in America I read because kids keep eating them. Tells you a bit about the difference between the EU and the US. Even handling these things makes your hands smell strongly of soap, so no kid could possibly think they are candy. Only an animal (compare toddler IQ to that of a dog) that just tries anything in case it might be food would eat it. So parents have a simple job, keep everything that is harmful, out of harms way. That is why toys like Lego are not for toddlers and instead toddlers get Duplo which has blocks so large even the dumbest kid can't swallow them.
Yet at the same time, stories of toddlers killing themselves or others with guns NEVER result in gun control. It isn't just maniacs buying guns to slaughter people, it is "normal" (by American standards where standards are low) gun owners who don't lock their gun away, who result in these regular stories of kids finding guns and firing them.
Yet, buckyballs are banned, guns are not.
This is the US in a nutshell. Buckyballs should just have spend its money on lobbyists like the gun companies have.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
This kid was 4
You argument?
And if something is sold in a store, it makes it difficult not to have it in the house? Because the store owner forces you to buy it? Because you are incapable of thinking "mmm this toy clearly has a warning on it to keep it away from all kids, so lets not buy it for my kids".
Didn't you child proof the house when you got a kid? Use those childproof plastic stickers on all your outlets? Lock the cabinet with chemicals? Keep power tools out of reach? Close the front door so the kid can't escape? Not boil water without keeping an eye on it?
Parenting is hard work, don't want to do it, don't get a kid.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
You are the one aren't you, the "won't someone please think of the children" trailer trash?
Well, guns kill far more kids, including guns that kids even toddlers get a hold on. Get guns banned first, then I will help you getting harmless toys that have not killed anyone banned in your quest to make the world totally safe for irresponsible morons.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
We should ban Hydrogen Dioxide. You know it KILLS many people every year! (usually in the summer time)
Hydrogen Dioxide, H2O2, technically Dihydrogen Dioxide, and commonly known as Hydrogen Peroxide, is a fairly safe antiseptic. Of course, like all chemicals, it can be toxic, and should only be used in safe concentrations. (See http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0335.html)
I would love to see a source for your claim that Hydrogen Peroxide has resulted in any deaths, especially of children, in recent years.
Firstly, I want to say that I have enjoyed many hours of entertainment with these Buckyballs. I even bought two more sets so I could make some real cool structures with them. Since when did all products have to be safe for humans to ingest? It seems to me like all household cleaners, motor oil, industrial lubricants, hell ... even integrated circuits would have to be yanked off the market now.
All of that being said, I'm actually surprised no-one else has mentioned a particularly troublesome issue with bucky-balls that poses for even intelligent adults: peeling metal. After having fumbled with these bucky-balls for a long time, tiny slivers of metal have been peeling off, which would be fine if they didn't end up on my fingers. Just imagine a wooden splinter, only way smaller and more rigid. I've found them to be impossible to remove deliberately. Basically you have to go several hours, sometimes even a day or two, with the shavings on your finger and eventually they will fall off (either by being washed off or just falling off after awhile). Fortunately, I've been careful not to ingest the slivers or scratch my eyes but after having the slivers end up in my fingers a few times I've stuffed the bucky balls into a box and tossed them aside.
That doesn't mean I'm going to go complaining to the company about it like a cry-baby. I do realize that rare-earth magnets are quite brittle and they must be treated with care (which I thought I did -- but apparently not enough so). Perhaps I'll pick up some gardening gloves and give the bucky-balls another go.
CPSC accident reports
http://www.saferproducts.gov/Search/Result.aspx?cid=14858&dm=1&srt=0
REPORT
|
7/16/2012
|
20120611-83E1C-2147466743
11yo girl who presented to the emergency department after having swallowed 5 ... ... (More)
Incident Description: 11yo girl who presented to the emergency department after having swallowed 5 BuckyBalls that she was playing with in her mouth. She obtained these BuckyBalls as a gift from her mother after she saw them in her school classroom, and having several friends who
Product: Building Sets
Product Description: 5 small silver balls, approximately 2mm width.
Injury Info: Injury, Emergency Department Treatment Received
Manufacturer / Importer / Private Labeler: MAXFIELD & OBERTON HOLDINGS LLC
REPORT
|
6/22/2012
|
20120523-A51C5-2147467321
9yo boy needed MRI for mental status changes and abdominal scanner went off. ... ... (More)
Incident Description: 9yo boy needed MRI for mental status changes and abdominal scanner went off. Went for AXR and metal object appearing to be a bracelet found. Boy subsequently admitted to swallowing magnets 1 mo ago (Bucky balls). After observing for a few days and giving a
Product: Building Sets
Product Description: small magnets (buckyball)
Injury Info: Injury, Hospital Admission
Manufacturer / Importer / Private Labeler: MAXFIELD & OBERTON HOLDINGS LLC
REPORT
|
6/6/2012
|
20120507-AC130-2147467809
2 y/o female ingested 2 'buckyball' magnets. Urgent endoscopy performed at ...
Incident Description: 2 y/o female ingested 2 'buckyball' magnets. Urgent endoscopy performed at night, and magnets were removed endoscopically. She did well afterwards and was discharged home. This was incredibly dangerous given the risk of perforation with such magnets.
Product: Building Sets
Product Description: buckyball round spherical magnets
Injury Info: Injury, Emergency Department Treatment Received
Manufacturer / Importer / Private Labeler: MAXFIELD & OBERTON HOLDINGS LLC
REPORT
|
5/21/2012
|
20120423-CDEB2-2147468193
14 year old female accidently ingested 5 small rare earth magnets after ... ... (More)
Incident Description: 14 year old female accidently ingested 5 small rare earth magnets after attempting to make a tongue ring out of them. She subsequently developed abdominal pain over the coarse of the next 24hrs requiring hospitalization. Medical management was attempted to
Product: Building Sets
Product Description: small very powerful magnets about the size of a BB
Injury Info: Injury, Hospital Admission
Manufacturer / Importer / Private Labeler: MAXFIELD & OBERTON HOLDINGS LLC
REPORT
|
5/18/2012
|
20120420-C04A8-2147468264
2 yo boy swallowed "buckyballs" earth magnets, landed in stomach with large ...
Incident Description: 2 yo boy swallowed "buckyballs" earth magnets, landed in stomach with large portion of stomach mucosa stuck in between magnets. Was successfully removed endoscopically but led to superficial ulce
This in a country where banning assault weapons in off the table
All kill more kids every year than magnets. Personally I don't want any of them banned, just pointing out the stupidity.
So I'm allowed to mod up a comment that I think is though provoking, but not to mod down a comment that I think is the opposite?
If somebody is really ignorant and not just of a different opinion than me, I reserve the right to mod him down.
this must be world wide? there's only 40-50k traffic accident deaths, total, per year in the US.
I'm not sure we should compare world wide statistics.. by and large, motor vehicle travel in the US is fairly safe (overloaded trucks with 14 people nothwithstanding), but compared to, say, rural Egypt or India, I think there's orders of magnitude difference.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Magnets, how do they work?
That link you posted is over a year old, and does not accurately reflect the situation today. Here is yesterday's announcement of the lawsuit CPSC has filed, and the actual text of the complaint(PDF).
Basically, the Buckyballs labeling was changed to indicate 14+ less than a month after being notified by the CPSC that they needed to do so (28-30 in PDF). Since then the CPSC has decided that no warnings, packaging or other changes can be effective at preventing kids from ingesting them (35-40,46-48), and therefore are seeking a complete stop-sale and full recall of all Buckyballs regardless of how they were labeled or are labeled in the future.
This is as bad as Zucker is describing it.
The author / userID field of posts should be hidden from moderators. Then they'd have to read the post and judge it on merits.
overdosing is the problem - there's nothing WRONG with swallowing just ONE...
I've always wanted some of these, just never picked any up. Does anyone no where I can still buy some? (Never thought I would be searching the internet for illicit magnet dealers)
So what about 'magnetic push pins', magnetic letters, magnetic poetry tiles, and any number of other small magnetic doo dads? may as well get those too....
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CF0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbc.com%2Fsaturday-night-live%2Fvideo%2Fhappy-fun-ball%2F229058%2F&ei=pW4RUPaBOOjh0QGQkoGYDg&usg=AFQjCNEmsb3EqZ14AH3dNK9pDI8P5UvPLg&sig2=RWsFtT_g8b3Om1FxnMl_vQ
I ate a couple when I was a kid. Ever since, I've been drawn to refrigerators and can't seem to escape their pull. They are just another reason for the upsurge in childhood obesity.
Dear Slashdot posters:
Even though the only CPSC document I could fine yesterday where about labeling, today I found a more current document. I swear I looked all over their site yesterday and could find any other docs.
Well, it turns out I was wrong, and I apologize. The doc I posted regarding labeling in 2010 was not the most current.
Even though I did look, I take responsibility for posting that this was simply a labeling issue.
My Apologies, Geekoid.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Why is it that a few retards can be allowed to ruin a company? If a stupid kid swallows a magnet that that is natural selection.
What is the problem? If your kid is stupid than don't let them play with normal people stuff. They make plush toys for them.
Meanwhile, there are cigarettes.
Unfortunately the police did not care at all that my notes were systematically stolen over a period of twelve years and I forgot about it. Maybe it is why there are Buckyballs at all and they will be turned into useful Newton Craddles in the future? djb
Actually, your link is from 2 years ago. The correct current link is here.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In an effort to prevent children from suffering further harm, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff filed an administrative complaint today against Maxfield & Oberton Holdings LLC, of New York, N.Y., alleging that Buckyballs and Buckycubes contain a defect in the design, packaging, warnings, and instructions, which pose a substantial risk of injury to the public. The Commission voted 3-1 to approve the filing of the complaint, which seeks, among other things, an order that the firm stops selling Buckyballs and Buckycubes, notify the public of the defect, and offer consumers a full refund.
So no, this is not a labeling issue. They already corrected the labeling issue. This is about stopping all sales of Buckyballs. Headline is correct. Posting to undo my upmod of your comment because it turns out you are wrong.
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
I guess I'll have to go back to pulling the magnets out of hard drives.
Alex, I'll take keybindings not used by Emacs for $400....
The proper moderation for a factually incorrect statement ("Linux has no GUI, you have to have a terminal open") is "overrated", not "troll". Better yet is to correct their ignorance with a reply.
If it's WILDLY inaccurate ("Windows is the safest, least crash-prone OS there is"), "Funny" might be appropriate.
Free Martian Whores!
I've been wanting to ban all small things for a long time. With this crisis, I hope myself and like minded anti-smallite's, can get other small things out of the hands of people who, lets face it, really dont need them.
It tells me that there are too few moderation options on /.
FC Closer
That's an excellent suggestion. Where moderation is concerned, ALL posts should be anonymous to help preserve impartiality.
So the claims seem to focus on intestinal pinching, but if one were to swallow several at once, wouldn't they find each other before entering the intestines? Unless of course it's a retarded kid who wanted seconds. govs v darwin -- who wins in the long run btw if you like magnets, buy a few n52 mags and at least two discs 20mm diameter x 5mm or larger. those seem a safety hazard and they will shatter each other if not careful. the buckyballs seem to be at most n42 and are so small. cubes are not as fun.
Can't parents actually do their fucking jobs and parent? Can't they teach their kids that magnets are not food?
Why not just treat the magnets chemically to make them taste awful.
Right let them swallow something safer mmmm lets see Legos yes that's it they are only made of plastic and square shaped. I'm sure they will pass easier than say a round ball.
Did you know that the average person will swallow eight spiders in their sleep during their lifetime.
I suspect most of them have been sold to adults.
Anyway I was about to buy some.
Now I am feeling sad.
Should a 57 year young person be prevented from buying these?
Skateboards cause accidents too, ban them also?
The *EXACT* same thing could be said about cigarettes.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
"Any child's life is worth more than $50 million," but isn't worth the five seconds needed to read the warning label before giving something to a kid. Apparently she thinks her time is worth $36 billion per hour.
This is not a signature.