The danger of magnets

In 2025, a study carried out by the University of Southampton discovered that around 300 UK children were admitted to A&E in a single year after swallowing magnets. One in 10 of these children required life-saving operations as a result.

Doctors also revealed that children who swallow two or more magnets were at a far higher risk of severe long-term damage, because the pieces can clamp together in their stomachs.

A safety alert was issued by the Office of Product Safety and Standards in 2021 warning families about small, strong magnets, and the potential dangers of serious injury and death if swallowed. Parents were warned against buying toys containing magnets after new data revealed that hundreds of children have been hospitalised from swallowing them.

In spite of warnings like this, a four-year-old boy recently died days after swallowing two small magnets. An inquest into his death found that he ate two 1cm-by-1cm pink magnets that were on his fridge at home. Sadly, those magnets attached themselves to each other inside his body, leading to injuries which ultimately caused his death.

Magnets can rip through a child’s stomach if they swallow them, causing life-threatening injuries, or even death. The magnets stick together inside the body and cut off the blood supply, causing tissue to die.

Children of all ages can be at risk – from babies up to teenagers – and may need complex surgery to remove the magnets and some experience life-changing internal injuries.

Here are some tips on magnets safety from the Child Accident Prevention Trust:

1. Avoid small, loose magnets if you have small children.

2. Only buy toys containing magnets (and fridge magnets!) from reputable retailers or brand names you know and trust to stick to quality control standards.

3. Take care if buying magnets from overseas sellers on online marketplaces – there’s no way of knowing if they’re safe.

4. Teach older children to never put magnets in their mouths.

5. Do not use small magnets on fridges or other surfaces to pin a notice up.

If you think your child may have swallowed magnets:

You must go straight to A&E or call an ambulance immediately.

Do not wait for symptoms to show. By then, damage may have already been done.