Posts Tagged ‘ Batteries ’

Button Batteries: Convenient for you – and Baby, too

May 28th, 2010. By Hunter West

One can’t imagine the horror of discovering that your child has swallowed a battery. But it happens—and it’s occurring with increasing frequency, according to a study published this week in the medical journal Pediatrics.

It’s bad enough when a child swallows anything not meant to enter the mouth and the life-threatening choking hazard that can ensue. But just as dangerous—if more so—is the potential for an ingested battery to do permanent damage resulting from the electric charge still inherent with the ingested battery.

As reported earlier this week by CNN, there has been a 6.7 fold increase in the percentage of severe outcomes from battery ingestion over the last 24 years. What’s more, the severity of those outcomes, or injuries, has worsened. Reports have included damage to, and destruction of the esophagus, perforation of the aorta and vocal cord paralysis.

A common culprit, as described in the study, is the 20mm lithium battery.

You know these batteries. They’re the ones that look like a dime, or a penny. It’s the same concept as the small, button batteries that power your watch. And you can see the need for using these compact batteries, given the ever-shrinking size of electronics. Everything is getting smaller, including remotes for electronic devices. Remotes are everywhere, and most households have a collection of them lying around, in plain view and available for a toddler to locate, pick up and jam in his mouth.

That’s what children do. Everything goes in their mouths. And it always happens just when your back is turned for a split second. Call it Parental Murphy’s Law.

While I don’t dispute the need for smaller batteries (some products are so small and thin, even the small, ‘AAA’ batteries are way too big), where is the caution on the part of electronics manufacturers to baby-proof their devices?

I have four children. The oldest is 35 and the youngest is 14—so I’ve been through a lot of parenting and a basketful of toys, some of which were battery-powered. Most of the toys designed for children Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Batteries, Button Batteries, Lithium Batteries
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