Powdered Neodymium Magnets?

[recursive]

Well, I really got myself into a mess here...

 

I got this odd compulsion to crunch up some rare earth magnets into a powder to see if my neodymium dust would do anything interesting. I was hoping they would, for example, align themselves to form something stable on their own (it turns out you need to give it something to form on, and then you just end up with some funky graphite-looking stuff).

 

It ended up attacking my skin.

 

My question is this: Do I need to take precautions about neodymium toxicity or anything?

Also, does anyone have any ideas about how to use ground-up rare earth magnet stuff?

 

I was unable to find any good information about the toxicity levels of NdFeB magnets. All I found was that it hasn't really been studied. I probably should have been a bit more careful; now my hands look like they were attacked by a chimney. I guess if those weird people who implanted magnets in their fingers didn't die, then I should be okay.

 

I hope I made sense!

[Mr Skeptic]

The obvious solution is to sue the magnet company for millions of dollars for not putting a warning label on it (eg, Do not powder magnet and apply to skin)

 

If no one here knows, it might be a good idea to call the company and ask them, as odds are they would be required to know in case their workers got exposed to the stuff.

 

Here's what wiki says about neodymium:

 

Neodymium compounds' date=' like all rare earth metals, are of low to moderate toxicity; however its toxicity has not been thoroughly investigated. Neodymium dust and salts are very irritating to the eyes and mucous membranes, and moderately irritating to skin. Breathing the dust can cause lung embolisms, and accumulated exposure damages the liver. Neodymium also acts as an anticoagulant, especially when given intravenously.

 

Neodymium magnets have been tested for medical uses such as magnetic braces and bone repair, but biocompatibility issues have prevented widespread application.[/quote']

 

At least you didn't do like this guy

[DrDNA]

 

 

 

At least you didn't do like this guy

 

 

What an amazing guy!

But he and his friends definitely need medication or at the least another hobby........."I first met Leen about seven years ago in one of the Voluntary Amputee mailing lists where he was inquiring about bloodless ways to amputate his left leg, at the time considering dry ice. Not long afterwards he contributed photos of his recent toe amputations and other body modifications to BME, and a few months ago induced an infection in one of his toes (by, among other things, standing in dirty fish ponds and soaking it in motor oil) which eventually led to half of his foot being amputated by his doctors.

 

Outwardly Leen is a “normal” guy — other than his limp, without seeing his feet you’d never know of his interests. He’s a straight (and married) forty-two year old construction worker in Pretoria, South Africa, where his hobbies include motorsports, nature, working out, and reading — and still slowly working toward his dream of a LAK (“left above the knee”) amputation

 

[NeonBlack]

Dr DNA, you don't happen to know a good way to clean vomit out of carpet do you?

[recursive]

Wow...

 

Why the fux0rz would anybody want to amputate their own leg?

 

AAAAAAAAAAAH!

 

That was really strange and irrelevant.

 

Anyway, I woke up this morning and noticed that little bits of neodymium magnet had still refused to get out of my fingers! I decided to see what would happen if I just leave it there. The only problem is the occasional neodymium splinter. FYI, metal splinters hurt like a biatch!

 

And I am using a seriously primitive method of grinding my magnets up.

'Primitive' means bashing them up with a screwdriver. Hey, what do you expect from a n00b?

 

Oh, and apparently it shouldn't be that bad to have NdFeB shrapnel in my hands. A medical report I read said it's mainly bad to get it in your lungs. But then again, maybe it wasn't the best idea to smoke it? Rofflz mai wafflz! (or something to that effect...)

The 'subcutaneous' route, which means embedding it in your skin like a n00b or other such lowly form of animal life, is said to cause mild irritation. One interesting symptom i found is "walking on tip-toes with arched back." What the hell does that mean? Does it mean you think you're a cat? OMGWTFBBQ???!!??!!11!~!!!11eleven!!!11!1zlolcat!!11!

 

So yeah. Well, humour me by responding!

[Mr Skeptic]

If the powder is still magnetic, you may be able to remove the splinters with another strong magnet.

[insane_alien]

If the powder is still magnetic, you may be able to remove the splinters with another strong magnet.

 

i.e, go stand by an MRI

[recursive]

Yeah. The problem with using another magnet to pull out splinters is that if they don't all align, I get a painful stabbing sensation, followed by... you get the point?

 

I'm not terribly concerned. If my skin tries to grow over them, that would be interesting.

 

Actually just using another piece of metal could work to get out the splinters, but it isn't strong enough usually.

[iNow]

I see something like this in your future:

 

 

 

 

[DrDNA]

i.e, go stand by an MRI

 

That actually could work!

When I got my MRI, the tech asked me if I used to grind metal and if so if I ever got any metal splinters in my eye because the MRI magnet would rip it out and tear up my eye.......I guess he was correct...

 

It the chemistry dept at your local university happens to have a 500 MHz or greater NMR.....that magnet might do the trick also. You would have to get real close as if you were manually tuning the probe........

 

Skeptic's link shows that crazy guy that likes to put things under his skin digging his neodynium implants out with a scaple. It is pretty gross.....

 

I see something like this in your future:

 

 

 

 

 

Cool! But Cyclops and Wolverine get all the hot chicks.....

[Mr Skeptic]

So can you sense magnetic fields with your fingers now?

[DrDNA]

So can you sense magnetic fields with your fingers now?

 

If I get high field magnets impanted in my fingers can I do proton NMR with them?

 

Care for a free breast MRI mam...............

[richard]

Metal gloves. No repulsion. High fashion.

[Genecks]

I'm going to go with iNow and say this was a freak experiment allow possible super powers. Other than that, you may want to check yourself into a medical clinic as soon as possible.

 

But why would Neos attack the skin? Would this destroy the hypothesis that magnets have little to no effect on the body?

[Mr Skeptic]

Most heavy metals are toxic, whether they are magnetic or not. Even the necessary metals will be nasty if their concentration gets too high.

[jackboed]

I agree that the Garmin cadence magnet is somewhat chinzy.

[random!@#%]

Well I thought since this topic is about neodymium magnets I might as well ask, what is the best place to buy neodymium magnets?

[mississippichem]

If I get high field magnets impanted in my fingers can I do proton NMR with them?

 

I've got a bench full of ruthenium complex samples waiting for you. When can you start?

 

It would make you a true super hero to run all that NMR for me before finals week