Quality Living Styles

August 2014

The Dangers of Swallowing Button Batteries

“Button” Batteries are used to power hearing aids, watches, toys, games, flashing jewelry, singing greeting cards, remote control devices, and many other items. According to the National Capital Poison Center in Washington DC, every year in the United States, hundreds of people of all ages swallow these “button” batteries.

I recently read an articles about the dangers of children or anyone swallowing button batteries. It is not so much a choking hazard. Some batteries pass through the body and are eliminated in the stool. However when it gets stuck or “hung up,” and it does not move through the body, it may press on an internal tissue, causing bleeding and tissue damage. The batteries, even if they are supposedly flat, can emit an electrical current around the outside of the battery, that may result in a tissue burn. One never knows whether a battery will pass through or get “hung up ”

Children are naturally curious. Playing with the remote is very common with children. Prying fingers can sometimes open the battery cover of the remote and remove the button battery. Of course, everything goes in the mouth. When children cannot talk, and parents have not actually seen the battery being swallowed, it takes a while before the root of the problem is discovered. Many deaths and serious injuries have been reported as a result of swallowing button batteries.

Safety Tips

For more detailed information and tips on how you can limit exposure to these small batteries, and what to do in the event a battery has been swallowed, please do read the, SAFETY TIPS FOR BUTTON BATTERIES.

Also, keep a list of emergency numbers easily available, including the one for the Poison Center, in the city in which you live.

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