A recent Forbes article contained yet another story of a homeopathic product causing harm to an infant. You may recall the story from last October in which homeopathic teething gels were linked to infant seizures. This time, the medically questionable product is a homeopathic magnetic hematite healing bracelet that a Connecticut couple bought for their infant. What they didn’t know is that the bracelet contained 170x the limit of lead that should be in children’s products.
After searching the family’s home, the only source of lead exposure was the small spacer beads on the bracelet. Apparently as a result of chewing on the bracelet (which 9 month olds tend to do), the infant’s blood level spiked to 41μg/dL, much higher than the 5μg/dL upper acceptable limit. Magnet therapy companies claim wearing magnets can increase blood flow to the underlying tissues and restore the body’s “electromagnetic energy balance,” but there is zero scientific evidence that placing a magnet on a baby will help them in any way.
