Flameless Candle Batteries Pose Danger to Youngsters
WEDNESDAY, Jan. four, 2017 (HealthDay Information) -- Tiny button batteries that gentle up flameless "tea candles" pose a major threat to youngsters when swallowed, the Nationwide Capital Poison Heart warns.
The lithium batteries within the candles accounted for 14 % of all of the button batteries swallowed by youngsters over the past two years, the middle reported. That quantity is predicated on statistics from the 24-hour Nationwide Battery Ingestion Hotline.
The batteries solely have a diameter of simply over three-quarters of an inch (20 millimeters). However these small batteries are probably harmful when swallowed. They've a better voltage than another batteries, and might trigger extreme burns within the esophagus (the tube that carries meals from the throat to the abdomen) in the event that they get caught there.
The Nationwide Capital Poison Heart stated it was particularly alarmed when its employees not too long ago went searching for flameless candle batteries. One product specifically stood out as extra harmful than others, and the middle known as for motion from federal officers and the producer.
"Within the bundle we obtained had been 24 unfastened button batteries, 12 tea lights containing batteries, and a distant management. The batteries had been fully unfastened, with no child-resistant packaging safety," Dr. Toby Litovitz, medical director of the poison middle, stated in a information launch from the middle.
"The battery compartment of this flameless candle can be opened simply by each baby. It had no screw closure or safe child-resistant latch. A baby might shortly entry the candle's 20-millimeter lithium button battery."
If a baby swallows considered one of these batteries, and it turns into lodged within the esophagus, it might trigger injury in as little as two hours, Litovitz stated.
The middle offered these recommendations on dealing with button batteries:
- Ensure that battery compartments are shut on all gadgets that use batteries. Robust tape can be utilized if there is a threat that the compartments may pop open or be opened by children.
- Take into account solely buying gadgets that want a screwdriver or device to open the battery compartment. Or search for gadgets that make it tough for youths to bypass controls on battery compartments.
- Lock up batteries and preserve them away from youngsters.
-- Randy Dotinga
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SOURCE: Nationwide Capital Poison Heart, information launch
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