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Changing battery type in household gadgets poses danger to children. |
Two papers in the same issue of the journal Pediatrics review over 8000 cases of battery ingestion in the USA. The majority of cases are young children. Although the incidence of battery ingestion does not appear to be increasing the rate of major or fatal outcomes is increasing dramatically.
The papers conclude that increasing use of 20mm button batteries in household gadgets such as toys, watches, calculators and remote controls has lead to an increase in the risk of serious complications after ingestion. Tissue damage mainly occurs due to the electric current produced by the battery. 20mm button batteries typically are 3V rather than the 1.5V of smaller batteries. They also have a higher capacitance and can generate higher currents. The majority of batteries ingested by children were obtained directly from a product leading the authors to call for a redesign of products so that a tool is required to remove the battery.
Link to paper 1
Link to paper 2 |
