Teen hospitalized after swallowing up to 100 magnets bought online: ‘Growing concern’

A 13-year-old boy in New Zealand was hospitalized and underwent major surgery after swallowing up to 100 magnets.

The teenager, who suffered four days of stomach pain before being admitted to Tauranga Hospital, had ingested between 80 and 100 high-powered magnets, each about 5×2 millimeters in size, according to a Friday report in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

“Accessibility of high-powered magnets is a growing concern for our pediatric population, which may be due to the ability to purchase from online marketplaces at affordable prices,” the report states.

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An x-ray revealed four chains of magnets stuck inside his abdomen. Surgeons operated on the boy, removing the magnets and damaged sections of his intestines. He was released from the hospital eight days later, according to the report.

Swallowing multiple magnets can cause life-threatening injuries. Surgical intervention, which is often necessary, can also cause complications in the future.

New Zealand and Australia have banned the sale of small, high-powered magnets. However, enforcing such bans online is more difficult, the report states.

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In this case, the magnets were allegedly purchased from online marketplace Temu, according to the report.

A spokesperson for Temu told News Digital that he is investigating the incident and has contacted the authors of the report for more details.

“We are sorry to learn of the reported incident and wish the child a full and speedy recovery,” Temu’s spokesperson told News Digital in an email. “We take product safety very seriously and continually monitor our platform to ensure that sellers comply with the safety regulations of the marketplaces in which they operate.”

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Temu has not been able to identify the specific product listing or confirm whether the magnets were purchased from its online marketplace, according to the spokesperson.

“However, our teams are reviewing relevant listings to ensure full compliance with local safety requirements,” the spokesperson said. “Any non-compliant products will be removed and we will take strong action against any seller found to have violated our platform rules or local regulations.”