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ATLANTA — Despite new safety laws aimed at protecting children, button and coin cell batteries remain a potentially deadly hazard. A Consumer Reports investigation found that many household items still have easily accessible battery compartments, leaving families vulnerable to tragic accidents.
Button and coin cell batteries, commonly found in toys, tealights, and other household devices, may be small, but they pose serious risks to children. These batteries can be life-threatening if swallowed.
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“If a child swallows one, it can become lodged in their esophagus, where it can actually burn a hole through the tissue and can be life-threatening in as little as two hours,” said Dr. Darria Long, a board-certified emergency room doctor.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 54,000 emergency room visits and at least 25 deaths were linked to button batteries from 2011 to 2021.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta recently published an episode of their podcast "Hope and Will: A Parenting Podcast" on the subject that touched on the "hidden — yet very serious — dangers of button battery ingestion" and spoke to a mother of two who shared her frightening experience with her son swallowing a remote control battery.
The Consumer Reports investigation evaluated 31 products powered by button batteries and discovered significant safety concerns.
“We found that a third of the toys and household items that we looked at had button batteries that were dangerously accessible,” said Lauren Kirchner of Consumer Reports.
Five of the products had battery compartments that could be opened with minimal effort, making them easily accessible to young children. Another five had compartments that were fragile and prone to breaking. The remaining 21 products were found to have safer battery compartments.
Consumer Reports reached out to the manufacturers of the 10 unsafe products, but most companies did not respond. LumaBase, the maker of tealights, stated that newer versions of their products now feature screws to secure the battery compartments.
To help prevent accidents, Consumer Reports advises parents to inspect items in their homes.
“If you find anything in your home that takes button batteries and it has a battery compartment that pops open really easily—especially if you have kids or babies at home — it might be a good idea to just get rid of it,” Kirchner said.
Parents are also urged to store loose button batteries out of children’s reach. While new safety regulations are in place, experts warn that more must be done to close existing gaps and ensure products are truly child-safe.
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