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Super Magnet Hazards

Magnets seem magic. It is amazing the way they act invisibly to attract other objects. Magnets are also key players in almost all modern technology. Computers, cars, television, radio, telephones and anything with an electric motor would be impossible to operate without magnets. The wonder and versatility of magnets comes with a dark side--magnets can be dangerous. Modern chemistry has produced super magnets that are especially dangerous.

  1. Impact Hazards

    • Super magnets can attract with incredible force. A finger placed between a super magnet and a steel plate will crush the finger with enough force to shatter the bones. Small metal objects like keys, screws, nails or paper clips can be attracted with such force that they become as deadly as bullets. Even ordinary objects like pens and metal eyeglass frames can become projectiles. A small super magnet can be attracted to a metal floor or the frame of a metal machine with such force that the magnet will shatter--many super magnets are made of composites--and the splinters of the super magnet become impact hazards.

    Biological Hazards

    • No part of the human body is affected by magnetism, but super magnets pose a problem with many implants. Super magnets can rip out the metal fillings from teeth or implanted pins or plates. If you have an implant such as a pacemaker, a cochlear implant or a vagus nerve stimulator, a super magnet not only can make the electronics behave chaotically, it can tear the implant from the body. One of the newest dangers caused by super magnets involves children and toys that contain small super magnets. If two or more small super magnets are swallowed, the magnets can wind up in different parts of the digestive tract and be attracted to each other. This causes any number of problems and has, in some cases, become fatal.

    Information Hazards

    • In addition to the bodily hazards, super magnets can be hazardous to information. Much of the information we use is stored in magnetic form, and super magnets can destroy this information from a great distance. Super magnets not only destroy information on computer disks, they erase information stored on credit cards, hotel keys, identity cards and any other cards with a magnetic strip. The super magnet hazard to stored information can have a delayed effect. Some part of your clothing--like a metal button or a zipper--can be magnetized by a super magnet, then later become a hazard when it comes in contact with stored information.

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