During the Christmas period the use of electronic devices powered by increases button cellssuch as lights, musical greeting cards and various toys. These seemingly harmless objects can represent a serious danger to children. Their small size and the ease with which children can handle them increase the possibility of the batteries being ingested, with very high risks.
Returning to the topic for Christmas is the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). who raised an urgent alarm about this danger, stressing that if a button battery is swallowed and gets stuck in the esophagus, it can cause serious damage to the mucosa.
Over the past decade, the BfR has received reports of several hundred cases of button cell ingestion, reported by clinics and poison control centres. But the problem is certainly not just Germany’s. Recently, in Italy, a tragic case involved a 17-month-old girl from the province of Siena, who died due to complications resulting from the ingestion of a battery, the ‘silent killer’, as some paediatricians define it. The Gaslini Hospital in Genoa, together with other Italian hospitals and health authorities, has also repeatedly reported the problem.
As already mentioned, the risk does not only concern electronic toys: many other products used during the Christmas period, such as Christmas lights and remote controls, are not always designed with adequate safety measures, given that they would not be intended for children (although often end up in their hands anyway). While toys must meet strict safety standards, many other devices are not subject to the same regulations and therefore pose a potential risk to children, who can easily access and ingest button batteries.
Experts therefore recommend that such objects be kept strictly out of the reach of small children.
What to do if a child swallows a button cell
If a button battery is swallowed, the child must be immediately examined in a clinic – warns Professor Andreas Hensel, president of the BfR.
Symptoms of ingesting a button battery may initially be mild or even absent, but as the hours pass, vomiting, fever, loss of appetite, or cough may occur. If not treated promptly, the damage can progress to bleeding, tissue necrosis, and permanent scarring in the esophagus. In severe cases, it can lead to death, especially if the battery is large and remains stuck in the esophagus for a long period.
If the battery gets stuck in your ear or nose, medical intervention is also required.
The fundamental advice to prevent the risk is to promptly dispose of used button batteries and keep all devices containing them out of reach of children, not just at Christmas, but always.
