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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Lithium button cells could cause extreme damage or dying if swallowed.
- Many manufacturers coat their batteries in a bitter substance to discourage ingestion.
- Energizer has now added a marker dye to make it simpler to identify ingestion.
Lithium button cell (generally known as coin cell) batteries are all over the place, from automotive key fobs to AirTags. And whereas they appear harmless sufficient, if ingested, they’ll trigger extreme damage from esophageal or airway injury in lower than two hours, which may, within the worst circumstances, end in dying.
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Every year within the US alone, some 3,500 button cells are swallowed, largely by kids. I’ve encountered one such damage myself, and seen numerous examples in first help coaching supplies, and it’s no joke.
Making button cells safer requires two issues: stopping unintended ingestion and having the ability to spot if a button cell has been ingested.
For a number of years now, a number of button cell producers have been coating their batteries in Bitrex, a innocent chemical compound that is essentially the most bitter substance recognized. A thimbleful in an Olympic-sized swimming pool could make all of the water bitter.
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This substance is added to a big selection of merchandise to forestall ingestion, from bleach and antifreeze to Nintendo game cards. And let me let you know, these things is terrible (in case you do not imagine me, you possibly can really request a free taste test kit from the maker).
One other step that producers have taken is to make the packaging onerous to open with out utilizing scissors. This makes it a lot more durable for adults and kids alike to entry new batteries.
Entering into the packaging is the primary hurdle that toddlers must cross.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
It is not even simple with scissors!
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Battery maker Energizer has taken issues a step additional with its Color Alert line. Along with hard-to-open packaging and a liberal software of Bitrex, a patch of dye has been utilized to the battery to make it extra apparent if it has been in somebody’s mouth. The Coloration Alert line covers frequent button cell sizes comparable to CR2032, CR2025, and CR2016.
The food-grade dye is utilized in dots to the again of the battery. It would not seem like a lot, however it’s greater than sufficient!
As soon as this comes into contact with water or saliva, it dissolves and spreads quickly, going all over the place. The brilliant blue actually reveals up towards pores and skin, particularly within the mouth and on the tongue.
The dye stains pores and skin for a lot of hours (in my assessments, it stayed on my pores and skin for a lot of hours, resisting a number of makes an attempt to scrub it off), and might alert caregivers to the truth that a button cell might have been ingested.
The dye will get all over the place and could be very persistent!
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Oh sure, and do not forget concerning the Bitrex within the dye. I taste-tested it and regretted it!
Sure, there’s Bitrex within the dye. Right here I utilized a small dot of the dye to my tongue and regretted it!
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Should you suspect {that a} button cell has been ingested, go to the emergency room instantly.
In case you are uncertain, name Poison Management instantly on 1-800-222-1222.
The dye and Bitrex coating appear to have no impact on the usability of the batteries. There was an issue with some Duracell cells being problematic in some units — notably AirTags — however I’ve not had any related points with the Energizer cells.
These are the most secure button cells I’ve used, and as such, I like to recommend that you simply purchase solely them. They preserve you secure (not that almost all of my readers are going to eat batteries), preserve kids and weak folks round you secure, and likewise assist to maintain pets secure (yeah, a few of them will eat coin cells, too).
I’ve had no downside with Energizer batteries — I additionally use the lithium AA and AAA batteries the place I want lengthy life or resistance to chilly temperatures — and costs are affordable. A six-pack of CR2032, essentially the most generally used dimension, and the one that matches into AirTags, is simply $7.
