# Could a magnet pull the iron out of your blood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2006, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816 "2006-02-10T04:25:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/1 "2006-02-10T04:25:35Z")
Ok…kinda gross I know but the thread around here on MRIs reminded me of something I thought I read once of magnets powerful enough to strip the iron out of a person’s blood (I do not remember if they went so far as to say it pulled it through your skin too which would be really nasty). It may have been some sci-fi something or other but I think they were talking about the magnets used in running particle accelerators or for fusion reactors. Possible? ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/2 "2006-02-10T04:36:40Z")
The magnets in experimental MRI units are quite powerful, yet no such effect is observed in them. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/3 "2006-02-10T04:37:47Z")
The iron in your blood is incorporated into the protein hemoglobin. I’m not sure it’s an actual molecular bond, though. If it is a real-for-sure bond then no, I don’t think a magnet could pull the iron atoms out of the hemoglobin molecules. If it’s only being held there by positive/negative attraction, then it’s possible that it could happen–but I still sort of doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/4 "2006-02-10T04:44:35Z")
Because of the way the iron is bound up in the hemoglobin, magnetic fields have very little effect on it. It is weakly paramagnetic, like oxygen, aluminum and water, for example. It is therefore slightly affected by strong magnetic fields, but not to the extent that ferromagnetic materials, like free iron, are. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/5 "2006-02-10T04:49:25Z")
Damn, I really wanted Magneto’s scene in the _X-Men_ to be potentially true. Was that cool or what… ---
**Author:** ![friendlessboob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@friendlessboob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friendlessboob)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/6 "2006-02-10T05:27:23Z")
Not that the X-Men scene is actually possible, but the point was that Mystique injected the guy with a bunch of iron in suspension (remember the bar bathroom scene?), and Magneto used that to escape…I think he even thanks her in absentia when he realizes what is different about hte gaurd (whats different is the iron in his body)…i am not really psyched that this is the only thread i cna contribute to… ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/7 "2006-02-10T05:43:33Z")
ahem … since this is the SDMB I just thought we should keep our science facts as precise as possible. The scene to which **Johanna** and **friendlessboob** refer is actually from **X-Men 2 - X Men United** : > **[X2: X-Men United (2003) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290334/)** > > X2: X-Men United: Directed by Bryan Singer. With Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry. When anti-mutant Colonel William Stryker kidnaps Professor X and attacks his school, the X-Men must ally with their archenemy Magneto to stop... Thank you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/8 "2006-02-10T06:59:05Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Ok…kinda gross I know but the thread around here on MRIs reminded me of something I thought I read once of magnets powerful enough to strip the iron out of a person’s blood (I do not remember if they went so far as to say it pulled it through your skin too which would be really nasty). It may have been some sci-fi something or other but I think they were talking about the magnets used in running particle accelerators or for fusion reactors. > > Possible? [This article](http://www.beyonddiscovery.org/content/view.page.asp?I=135) outlines how functional MRI (fMRI) makes use of the different magnetic properties of oxygenated (arterial) vs. deoxygenated (venous) blood allows diagnostic tests and aids brain surgeons. If you’re wondering about the effects of wearing a magnetic bracelet for therapeutic reasons you will have to ask someone else. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/9 "2006-02-10T07:03:04Z")
I see that you aren’t asking with an eye on magnet therapy so strike my last sentence. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/10 "2006-02-10T09:48:09Z")
Slightly off topic but I remember seeing a T.V. show in the U.K. called Brainiac - Science Abuse where they showed someone using a horseshoe magnet to ‘drag’ cornflakes around a bowl of milk to demonstrate the high iron levels in the cereal. I couldn’t say 100% if it was real or not but I can’t see why they would make it up on a ‘scientific’ show. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/11 "2006-02-10T10:27:18Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > Slightly off topic but I remember seeing a T.V. show in the U.K. called Brainiac - Science Abuse where they showed someone using a horseshoe magnet to ‘drag’ cornflakes around a bowl of milk to demonstrate the high iron levels in the cereal. I couldn’t say 100% if it was real or not but I can’t see why they would make it up on a ‘scientific’ show. This has to be bogus. HAS to be. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/12 "2006-02-10T10:29:47Z")
Then again, [perhaps not](http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/1488). But this is talking about metallic iron… ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2006, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-magnet-pull-the-iron-out-of-your-blood/343816/13 "2006-02-10T10:38:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > > [@mittu](#): > > > > Slightly off topic but I remember seeing a T.V. show in the U.K. called Brainiac - Science Abuse where they showed someone using a horseshoe magnet to ‘drag’ cornflakes around a bowl of milk to demonstrate the high iron levels in the cereal. I couldn’t say 100% if it was real or not but I can’t see why they would make it up on a ‘scientific’ show. > > This has to be bogus. HAS to be. See also [Do “iron fortified” cereals really contain iron filings?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_091.html)