# Are Rare Earth Magnets Dangerous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587 "2008-06-20T14:14:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/21 "2015-01-12T07:53:33Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > The “scare 'em straight” story I was given in high-school physics class was that some kid from a previous year put one in his mouth and another on his cheek. They clamped together strongly enough that the only way to remove them was by making an incision through his cheek (presumably with a non-magnetic scalpel) to pull them through. 😃 I’d call BS on that, though my brother might believe it - after taking ages to peel two of them off the fridge, I told him to be careful 'cause they could pinch… right before he put them on his ear. :smack: On the one hand he’s my brother, but on the other hand he’s my brother, so I got them off for him with two butter knives. ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/22 "2015-01-12T09:55:54Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > 😃 I’d call BS on that, though my brother might believe it - after taking ages to peel two of them off the fridge, I told him to be careful 'cause they could pinch… right before he put them on his ear. :smack: On the one hand he’s my brother, but on the other hand he’s my brother, so I got them off for him with two butter knives. I’m split on that one, I had two fingers whacked pretty good by a couple of 2.5" diameter x 1" thick N54 magnets. Fingers hurt for almost a week and had bruised finger nails for even longer. All I can say is I’m glad two fingers were in there; if only one got caught it probably would have been broken. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/23 "2015-01-12T13:44:03Z")
There are [magnets big enough](http://www.magnet4less.com/product_info.php?cPath=11&products_id=918) to break bones, if you’re unfortunate enough to get your fingers caught between one and a piece of metal (or another magnet). I vendor’s site I saw some time ago said that they ship their larger magnets in the center of a wooden box - one at a time. They advise caution when transporting them by hand outside of that box, because if you get them anywhere near another piece of magnetic material, you may not be able to hold them back, leading to a violent collision that can crush your hand or generate the aforementioned shrapnel. [Magnet Safety Warning](http://www.magnet4less.com/magnetsafety.php) ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/24 "2015-01-12T14:05:32Z")
> [@vomit\_comet](#): > > I’m split on that one I’m split on it, too, which is why I relate it as a “scare 'em straight” story, rather than a “this totes happened” story. I _could_ imagine doctors, when seeing such a situation, given the awkward placement, time constraints, and strength of the magnets, to rationally decide that a small incision would be less damaging than other methods they could use to separate the magnets. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/25 "2015-01-12T15:45:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Terr** : > > I saw recently an xray of the little girl that swallowed a dozen of them. Scary, although I think they saved her life. I assume that by “they”, you mean doctors and such? The phrasing makes it sound like the magnets themselves somehow saved her life (from what, I don’t know). ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/26 "2015-01-12T15:48:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The phrasing makes it sound like the magnets themselves somehow saved her life (from what, I don’t know). If the little girl was a cow, they [might](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_disease). ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/27 "2015-01-12T17:32:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I assume that by “they”, you mean doctors and such? The phrasing makes it sound like the magnets themselves somehow saved her life (from what, I don’t know). Doctors/surgeons, yes. I have a bunch of the neodymium magnets from when I was working on those sculptures, and they are well hidden from my kids. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/28 "2015-01-12T19:56:12Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > Strong? I hear they’re strong enough to raise the dead! Well, they raised this zombie thread from the dead. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/29 "2015-01-14T03:10:44Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > There are [magnets big enough](http://www.magnet4less.com/product_info.php?cPath=11&products_id=918) to break bones, if you’re unfortunate enough to get your fingers caught between one and a piece of metal (or another magnet). I vendor’s site I saw some time ago said that they ship their larger magnets in the center of a wooden box - one at a time. They advise caution when transporting them by hand outside of that box, because if you get them anywhere near another piece of magnetic material, you may not be able to hold them back, leading to a violent collision that can crush your hand or generate the aforementioned shrapnel. > > [Magnet Safety Warning](http://www.magnet4less.com/magnetsafety.php) Wow. Wow. That is one dangerous magnet. Playing with that is like playing with a car balancing on one jack. I think it’d be fun, but I’d do a whole lot of planning, and make some special tools like giant wooden pliers so I could probably protect the magnet (it’s over $400 after all), but most definitely protect me. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/30 "2015-01-14T08:33:36Z")
I have a refrigerator (dirt cheap - the delivery cost more than the refer) with a sprung door - it will shut, but needs to be pushed the last 2" or so - would a strip of this 1/4" x 1/2" x ?" applied around the seal pull the door the last 2"? It looks like somebody allowed kids to swing on the door handle - it first bulged, then broke entirely (ebay to the rescue on that). I have no idea how to align a refer door, even if I had the strength. Putting a magnet of a door, I can handle… ---
**Author:** ![Chickenwrangler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chickenwrangler/32/91_2.png) [@Chickenwrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenwrangler)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/31 "2015-01-14T10:12:08Z")
As I understand it these extra strong magnets can be mail ordered. How does that work 😕 Wouldn’t the parcel stick to any metal surface it gets near, including other parcels and those metal chutes they have in the sorting office and even to the inside of the delivery van :eek: ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/32 "2015-01-14T11:43:30Z")
> [@Chickenwrangler](#): > > As I understand it these extra strong magnets can be mail ordered. > > How does that work 😕 > > Wouldn’t the parcel stick to any metal surface it gets near, including other parcels and those metal chutes they have in the sorting office and even to the inside of the delivery van :eek: In close proximity, the strength of the magnets diminishes by a factor of 4 when you double the distance away from it so wrapped and boxed properly they are quite safe to ship. Further away, the strength diminishes by a factor of 8 when you double the distance. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/33 "2015-01-14T13:14:31Z")
> [@Chickenwrangler](#): > > As I understand it these extra strong magnets can be mail ordered. > > How does that work 😕 > > Wouldn’t the parcel stick to any metal surface it gets near, including other parcels and those metal chutes they have in the sorting office and even to the inside of the delivery van :eek: They are [packaged very, very carefully:](http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=70_80&zenid=c35a2c4ca59484d077ce0564e4dc0a99) > [@UnitedNuclear](#): > > All Supermagnets are packed in either small wooden boxes or with large blocks/panels of Styrofoam in double-wall cardboard boxes to minimize the external magnetic field. “minimize the external magnetic field” is kind of misleading. The packaging materials they use don’t have any special magnet-cancelling properties; it’s just that they carefully arrange things so that the magnet is securely positioned in the center of the box, assuring that nothing can come within several inches of it. The really strong magnets are shipped in a wooden box instead of cardboard, making it even harder for foreign objects to penetrate into the interior. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/34 "2015-01-14T15:24:40Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > You know, if they’re so “rare”, how come they aren’t that expensive? 😕 > > [$20 gets you a whole shit-ton of them.](http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/770f/) Couldn’t find them - link to the direct page? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/35 "2015-01-14T16:51:41Z")
> [@Chickenwrangler](#): > > As I understand it these extra strong magnets can be mail ordered. > > How does that work 😕 > > Wouldn’t the parcel stick to any metal surface it gets near, including other parcels and those metal chutes they have in the sorting office and even to the inside of the delivery van :eek: delivery companies follow close to other vehicles when delivering magnets for the motive assist. extrapolated from a scene in a Laurel and Hardy short ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/36 "2015-01-14T16:59:36Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Couldn’t find them - link to the direct page? Thanks. Since the time of that post the product was banned for sale in the US. Bunky Balls and Magnet Balls where sets of spherical rare earth magnets. 216 in a standard set. Kids eat them. Thus we can’t have nice things. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/37 "2015-01-14T17:04:33Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > And you can do nifty sculptures with them (mine: [www.mymagneticsculptures.com](http://www.mymagneticsculptures.com)) That’s your site? Some of those sculptures are very cool. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/38 "2015-01-14T17:38:25Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > That’s your site? > > Some of those sculptures are very cool. Thanks. I had fun doing them. Too bad now I moved and have no room in my garage for the welding/cleaning/polishing equipment to do this. And no time either… ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/39 "2015-01-14T18:13:08Z")
Back when floppy disks were a thing I had an already-damaged one labeled “CRITICAL BACKUPS” prominently stuck to the side of a filing cabinet with a magnet just to see who would notice and do a double take. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587/40 "2015-01-14T18:34:31Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Back when floppy disks were a thing I had an already-damaged one labeled “CRITICAL BACKUPS” prominently stuck to the side of a filing cabinet with a magnet just to see who would notice and do a double take. or have your 5 1/4 disk thumbtacked to a bulletin board. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-rare-earth-magnets-dangerous/453587.md?page=1)