The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has joined forces with the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) to raise awareness of the dangers of swallowing magnets.
The #SafeFashion campaign, which launched today, is asking young people and their parents to learn more about the dangers of magnets following concerns of them being used as “fake” tongue piercings and jewellery among teenagers and young people.
Instances where the magnets have detached and been swallowed have led to the need for surgery and can cause serious infections, lifelong digestive disorders or even death.
When two or more of the small ball magnets are swallowed, they can stick together, causing damage to the digestive system. A magnet in one loop of the bowel will be attracted to another in a different loop and pull the two together. This traps parts of the digestive system between the magnets, cutting off blood flow and rapidly killing intestinal tissue.
Created as part of the #NilByMouth campaign, launched by the Office for Product Safety and Standards, #SafeFashion aims to utilise social media to spread awareness of the dangers around faking a piercing with ball magnets.
RoSPA’s Public Health Adviser, Ashley Martin, said: “We anticipate that more injuries are likely to occur from magnets being used as fake tongue piercings, which is why we recommend that older children and their families are made aware through our #SafeFashion campaign how dangerous magnets can be if swallowed.
“Magnets stick together and cut off blood supply, causing tissue to die. We’re warning parents and teenagers to take real care when buying products containing magnets.”
The #SafeFashion webpage created for the campaign links to social media resources, a leaflet, videos and a poster for parents and young people to use, with links to information and advice on how dangerous magnetic balls can be.
View the webpage here: rospa.com/safe-fashion
Loading ...
