Title: Magnet Injury Prevention Act
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Magnet Injury Prevention Act
This bill prohibits as hazardous consumer products specified small, high-powered magnets. The prohibition includes magnets that (1) are commonly marketed for entertainment (e.g., puzzle working or sculpture building); (2) are not classified as a toy or children’s jewelry; (3) pose a choking, aspiration, or ingestion risk to young children; and (4) have a magnetic field magnitude above a certain threshold.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6105 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6105

  To ban certain small, high-powered magnets, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 2020

  Mr. Cardenas (for himself and Ms. Schrier) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To ban certain small, high-powered magnets, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Magnet Injury Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Small, high-powered magnets are commonly sold in sets 
        of 200 or more individual magnets.
            (2) Small, high-powered magnets pose a hidden hazard to 
        infants, children, and teens.
            (3) When two or more high-powered magnets are ingested, the 
        force (or flux) allows magnets to find each other across or 
        between different segments of the digestive system.
            (4) When magnets connect across or between different 
        segments of the digestive system, the result can be 
        perforations, abscesses, or fistulas in the bowel.
            (5) Sometimes, the magnetic force causes the intestines to 
        twist, cutting off blood supply and leading to bowel necrosis.
            (6) Ingestion of two or more high-powered magnets confers a 
        high risk of abdominal catastrophe and death.
            (7) Children almost universally require high-cost medical 
        intervention following high-powered magnet ingestions.
            (8) Evidence does not exist that warning information will 
        sufficiently reduce the hazard associated with the ingestion of 
        small, high-powered magnets from magnet sets.
            (9) The absence of regulatory action to reinstate standards 
        for small, high-powered magnet sets requires legislative 
        action.

SEC. 3. BAN ON CERTAIN MAGNETS.

    (a) Ban on Certain Small, High-Powered Magnets.--Not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, covered small, high-
powered magnets, regardless of the date of manufacture, shall be 
considered a banned hazardous product under section 8 of the Consumer 
Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2057).
    (b) Covered Small, High-Powered Magnet Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``covered small, high-powered magnet'' means any individual or 
set of separable magnets that--
            (1) is--
                    (A) a consumer product (as defined in section 3 of 
                the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052)) that 
                is--
                            (i) intended, marketed, or commonly used as 
                        a manipulative or construction item for 
                        entertainment, such as puzzle working, 
                        sculpture building, mental stimulation, stress 
                        relief, or for similar entertainment;
                            (ii) not a toy subject to ASTM F963 (or any 
                        successor standard); and
                            (iii) not children's jewelry that is 
                        subject to ASTM F2923 (or any successor 
                        standard); or
                    (B) a component of a consumer product described in 
                subparagraph (A);
            (2) is or contains any individual magnet that fits 
        completely within the small parts cylinder described in section 
        1501.4 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations; and
            (3) is or contains any individual magnet with a flux index 
        of greater than 50 kG2 mm2.
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