High-powered magnetic toy sets, specifically the ball-and-stick building sets sold by unknown Chinese sellers on Shein and other online platforms, are violating the mandatory federal toy magnet standard and sending children to the emergency room with internal injuries. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a warning in 2026 against magnetic building ball and stick sets sold on Shein.com from June 2024 through October 2025, warning consumers to stop using them immediately.
Why High-Powered Magnets in Toys Are So Deadly
This topic is not about the small desk magnets in novelty toys. These are children’s building sets marketed as educational toys for kids that contain magnets exceeding the strength limits set by the mandatory federal toy standard. When a child swallows two or more of these magnets, the magnets attract each other through the walls of the intestines, pinching tissue and cutting off blood supply. The resulting internal injuries require emergency surgery and can be fatal. CPSC has documented multiple child deaths from this exact mechanism in prior years, prompting the mandatory standard that these products violate.
CPSC warns that when high-powered magnets are swallowed, even in separate incidents, even minutes apart — the ingested magnets can attract each other, or other metal objects, and become lodged in the digestive system, causing perforation, infection, and life-threatening injury.
The Shein Products
The specific magnetic building ball and stick sets warned against by CPSC were sold on Shein.com for approximately $21 and may also have been sold by various third-party sellers and on other websites. The sets contain magnets stronger than permitted under the mandatory toy standard.
What You Should Do
- Stop using any magnetic building ball and stick sets purchased from Shein, Amazon, or other online marketplaces from unknown sellers and verify that they comply with the CPSC mandatory toy magnet standard (ASTM F963).
- Dispose of any sets that cannot be verified as compliant.
- Never allow young children access to high-powered magnet sets of any kind.
- If a child may have swallowed a magnet, go to the emergency room immediately — do not wait for symptoms. X-rays are required to locate ingested magnets.
- Purchase magnetic building toys only from established brands that carry verified safety certification.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, visit SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC’s Hotline at 800-638-2772.
