Batteries and Ingestion: A Deadly Combination for Infants and Children

With the increasing number of electronic tools and toys—and the decreasing size of batteries needed to operate these devices—infants and children are at risk for ingesting batteries as they play and explore. Each year in the United States, more than 2,800 kids are treated in emergency rooms after swallow¬ing button (small-sized) batteries. That is one child every three hours. Button batteries pose a serious hazard to children.

When a child swallows a button battery, their saliva triggers an electrical current. This causes a chemical reaction that can severely burn the esophagus in as little as two hours. Button battery ingestion can cause severe, often irreparable damage to a child. It may not be obvious at first that there is something wrong, since kids can still breathe and act normally after ingesting a battery, although it may seem like the child has a cold or flu. Repairing the damage from battery ingestion is painful and often involves multiple surger¬ies. Even after a battery is removed, kids can experience terrible side effects to their vocal chords and windpipe.

Preventing battery ingestion involves a home inspection and securing batteries, just like other poisons. Here are some tips for keeping your child safe from batteries:
• Search your home, and any place your child goes, for gadgets that may contain button batteries.
• Keep button battery-controlled devices out of sight and reach of children.
These include remote controls, singing greeting cards, digital scales, watches, hearing aids, thermometers, certain children’s toys, calculators, key fobs, flameless or tea light candles, flashing holiday jewelry, and certain decorations.
• Keep loose batteries locked away, or place a piece of duct tape over the controller to secure the battery compartment.

Because button battery ingestion remains on the rise, a national hotline number (202-625-3333) has been established for parents and guardians. If there is any suspicion that a child has ingested a battery, take him or her to the Emergency Department immediately.
More information on battery poisoning is available at the Maryland Poison Center, the National Capital Poison Center, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites.
There are many other websites that feature toy safety information; listed below are some that have national recognition:
www.aap.org
www.healthychildren.org
www.cpsc.gov
www.safekids.org
www.toyinfo.org
www.thebatterycontrolled.com