Button batteries: when kids’ toys become deadly
6.9.2024
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
A child car seat recently went up in flames in the USA. The reason? The coin battery in a toy. Experts have long been pointing out the danger of small button cells. Here’s why they’re a problem and what to do in an emergency.
Disturbing pictures of a charred child car seat were published in media all over the world. And rightly so. The Burke County Fire Department in the USA published them on Facebook to draw attention to the dangers of button batteries. The post has since been shared thousands of times.
Source: George Hildebran Fire & Rescue Department/Facebook
The George Hildebran Fire & Rescue Department believes a button battery containing lithium caused the fire. Unfortunately, the battery was in a children’s book under the child’s car seat. Fortunately, no children were in the car at the time of the fire, the fire department said.
Whether it really was a children’s book that caused the incident is still under investigation. The publisher of the JJ’s Potty Time book, of which the remains were found under the child seat, has since issued a statement saying it doesn’t use alkaline batteries but lithium batteries. However, these can also be dangerous under certain circumstances.
Disastrous when swallowed
One thing’s for sure: the compact, flat button-type battery is found in many electronic children’s toys. And paediatricians have long been warning about them. Not because of their flammability, but because they can easily be swallowed by children.
Batteries can be life-threatening if they get stuck in the oesophagus. This is because contact with moist mucous membranes and tissue fluids results in a current flow and thus severe burns. Just a few minutes after ingestion, there’s a risk of devastating consequences with permanent damage or even death.
Videos online demonstrate the effect of button cells in organic tissue using ham or chicken meat:
The danger in our homes
The battery compartment flap on electric children’s toys should always be secured with a screw. This complies with the toy regulations and the European standard EN 62115: button cells and batteries designated R1 (coin, button or cylindrical) shall not be accessible without the aid of a tool.
Yet button batteries end up in the bodies of small children again and again. For one, not all manufacturers adhere to the standard. According to an article published by Swiss consumer magazine «Kassensturz» (in German) in 2023, the UL-Solutions laboratory in Lombardy, which specialises in the safety of children’s toys, repeatedly finds toys whose button battery can be easily removed by children.
What’s more, the small batteries are not only found in toys, but also in many household appliances and everyday objects. Think kitchen scales, calculators, car keys, LED tea lights and greeting cards. And they’re often within reach of curious children.
Source: Shutterstock/OMfotovideocontent
60 incidents per year in Switzerland
To draw attention to this problem, several Swiss paediatricians formed a working group in 2021. «From toys and household appliances to LED candles, numerous products with unsafe closures are currently coming onto the market. Closures that are easy for children to open – or from which the batteries can even fall out,» it said in the German press release. An Italian study also showed there was a dramatic increase in button battery incidents during the pandemic. «Paediatricians from other countries are also reporting a noticeable increase,» writes the working group.
According to the Federal Statistical Office (page in German), around 60 incidents involving button batteries and small children are registered in Switzerland every year. This equals one incident per week. Around two thirds of these affect children under the age of six. The University Hospital Bonn (UKB) (page in German) estimates that around 60 per cent of swallowed button batteries are removed directly from the device or toy by children. 30 per cent are lying around the house unpacked and 8 per cent are removed from the battery packaging.
«Unfortunately, the warnings on the packaging are completely inadequate and the population is therefore usually completely unaware of the danger,» says Carola Seidel, deputy head of the «Giftzentrale Bonn», UKB’s poison control centre. The «Kassensturz» report revealed a further problem. Parents often don’t even know which devices in their household are powered by button batteries.
Source: University Hospital Bonn
Check before you buy
The Swiss paediatricians’ working group advises to check all affected devices for a well-secured battery compartment that can only be opened with a screwdriver. Inadequately secured fasteners should be taped over with strong adhesive tape. Especially with toys and other easily accessible objects. Used button batteries must be kept well sealed and out of children’s reach.
Parents should make sure the battery compartment’s properly secured before buying a toy. The same applies to the purchasing batteries. Some packaging is too easy to open – even for children. Many manufacturers now sell button batteries that can only be removed from the packaging with scissors. Some also give their button batteries a bitter-tasting coating so that children would spit them out again immediately.
These three products are among the most securely packaged batteries we have in our range. The Duracell batteries also feature that bitter taste:
Batteries
EUR6,25 EUR6,25/1pcs.
Renata CR2032 Lithium Battery, Lithium Cell CR2032, 3V
1 pcs., 225 mAh
If a child swallows a battery, this is always an emergency that requires fast action. The child needs to be taken to the nearest hospital immediately.
Give the child a spoonful of honey every ten minutes on the way there. It creates a protective barrier between the tissue of the oesophagus and the battery, as an American team of ear, nose and throat specialists at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia proved. You can see the visible difference in the following video.
Header image: Katja Fischer
Katja Fischer
Senior Editor
Katja.Fischer@digitecgalaxus.chMom of Anna and Elsa, aperitif expert, group fitness fanatic, aspiring dancer and gossip lover. Often a multitasker and a person who wants it all, sometimes a chocolate chef and queen of the couch.