Via Denver Business Journal

Zen Magnets LLC, a Boulder company that’s attracted the ire of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has taken steps to ensure its powerful magnet spheres don’t fall into the hands of children.

The CPSC has successfully sued other companies to get similar products removed from stores, citing concerns that the powerful magnets could cause internal damage if children swallow them. The consumer watchdog took action against Zen Magnets in August 2012; the case is still pending.

Zen Magnets until now sold its products via internet sales. The company’s website cautions: “Zen Magnets may cause fatal intestinal pinching if swallowed. Don’t leave them around animals, or children who don’t understand this.”

The company’s magnets are available via retail stores around Colorado. But the stores are the kind that don’t welcome children. Of the eight stores where Zen Magnets has its magnet spheres for sale, two are marijuana dispensaries and five are vape/pipe shops. The final retailer sells science equipment and where a customer’s ID is checked before a purchase can be made.

Anyone buying Zen Magnets at the retail shops must be at least 18.

In its response to the CPSC complaint, Zen Magnets said its spheres aren’t marketed to children “and are not available to children unless given to them by their parents or other adults contrary to common sense …”

L. Wayne Hicks
Denver Business Journal
303-803-9221