(Reuters) – The U.S. consumer protection authority on Thursday warned people to immediately stop using Chinese seller Doraemon’s magnetic ball sets, after its loose, hazardous magnets resulted in seven deaths from ingestion.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) determined that the Doraemon Dovfun Suit Magnetic Ball Sets contained one or more magnets that were smaller and stronger than permitted under federal toy regulation requirements.
The toys were sold online at Amazon.com for about $25, in sets encased in a clear-plastic case in a portable tin storage box.
The CPSC said an estimated 2,400 magnet ingestions were treated in hospital emergency departments from 2017 through 2021. It has also become aware of seven deaths, including two outside the United States.
“When high-powered magnets are swallowed, the ingested magnets can attract to each other, or to another metal object, and become lodged in the digestive system,” the CPSC said in a statement.
The regulator said Doraemon was issued a notice of violation, but the seller has not agreed to recall these magnetic ball sets or offer a remedy to consumers.
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The seller could not be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)