I don't use button batteries very often, so I was surprised to note the information on the packaging, which apparently is a new development this year. The batteries are not only in child-resistant packaging, but they also taste bitter, and stain the mouth a bright blue color.
Ingested coin or button batteries result in thousands of emergency hospital visits each year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which notes that “the consequences of a child swallowing a battery can be immediate, devastating and deadly.”“A button cell battery can burn through a child’s throat or esophagus in as little as two hours if swallowed,” according to the agency.
Detailed information is available from Energizer. Their FAQs indicate that the reaction time (taste and color) are immediate, and that the blue dye is food grade. I was seriously tempted to lick one, but I'll leave that up to some adventurous reader.
This reminds me of Nintendo deciding to add bitter coating to its game cartridges for the Switch: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39141371
ReplyDeleteThat 'rapidity of the toxicity' is a true work out for one's mouth and tongue dexterity.
ReplyDeleteI am the very model of a modern button battery // You'd be surprised at the rapidity of my toxicity [etc.]
DeleteThis kind of step ought to be required for all button batteries. They are too dangerous to children to be allowed as they currently are.
ReplyDeleteThe blue dye is not a deterrent, but to help doctors figure out what has happened. This is the same reason why blue dye is added to the "food" that is given via a PEG tube.
ReplyDelete