Major retailers ban magnetic putty due to health concerns
A child who played with it was found to have 10 times the normal levels of arsenic in her urine
Following a Facebook complaint from parents who revealed their 7-year-old daughter fell ill after playing with magnetic putty, retailers including Amazon and Groupon have removed the popular toy from sale.
Scottish mum Frances Kelly shared how her daughter Neve had 10 times the usual amount of arsenic in her urine after playing with the putty - though luckily, she added, she has not shown "many symptoms of damage".
In addition, a magnet included in the banned toy was found to be 29 times over the allowed magnetic force and could be "easily swallowed".
The putty also contained twice the amount of permitted lead.
Another mum who bought the black version of the same putty from Groupon said her son has been suffering from stomach pains since playing with it.
Which types of putty should you avoid?
First off, it's important to note that not all putty available in the UK is the same.
The putty in these instances did NOT carry the CE marking which is a vital indicator as to whether what you're buying has passed health, safety, and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area.
So, it's really key when you buy anything like this to check for the CE mark (it's literally just the letters CE in capitals somewhere on the product).
We found that eBay in particular was really good at noting in the description if a particular putty carried the CE mark.
Images Frances Kelly on Facebook
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Authors
Tara is mum to 1 daughter, Bodhi Rae, and has worked as Content Editor and Social Media Producer at MadeForMums since 2015
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