Button battery safety factsheet

Introduction

Button batteries are small, circle-shaped batteries that are very common and used in many household items like:

toys
remote controls and key fobs
kitchen scales
thermometers
musical greeting cards
children’s books that play sound.

Button batteries are extremely dangerous for children and can cause serious injury and death when swallowed.

These batteries can be very attractive to small children because they are small (about 0.5cm – 3.2cm wide) and shiny.

Button batteries can cause serious injury and death by quickly causing internal burns and bleeding when they:

become stuck in the oesophagus - the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach
travel through organs in the digestive system
become stuck in the nose, eyelids, and ears.

Button batteries cause burns when the leftover electrical current causes a chemical reaction in the body. They can also leak poisonous chemicals.

These injuries can happen in under 2 hours.

Signs and symptoms

Children will often swallow button batteries without anyone knowing. A child who is too young may be unable to tell you what they just put in their mouth. Sometimes, you may hear or see choking as the battery is swallowed.

Signs that your child may have swallowed a button battery include:

unusual gagging or drooling
refusal to eat solid food
coughing or noisy breathing
vomiting or regurgitation of food
unexplained fever
chest pain
grunting
black or red vomit or poo
nose bleeds
abdominal pain
general discomfort
blood in the mouth or saliva
bloody discharge from ear or nose.

If you think your child has swallowed a button battery, you must take action immediately.

Call the NSW Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 for immediate support and information on which emergency department to go to for treatment.

Do not try to make your child vomit.

Do not let your child eat or drink while you wait to speak to the NSW Poisons Information Centre.

Diagnosis

Your child’s treatment team in the emergency department will check your child based on any symptoms they are showing. They may also need to do an x-ray to see where the battery is.

Treatment

Do not try to treat your child at home by making your child vomit.

Injuries from button batteries are treated in the hospital.

Call the NSW Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 for immediate support and information on which emergency department to go to for treatment.

Management

Keeping your child safe from button batteries

Because button batteries are very common, storing them safely at home is important. Some tips for storing button batteries include:

keeping spare and used batteries out of reach in a locked cupboard high off the ground
making sure products that use button batteries have a screw holding the battery compartment in place, and placing products that don’t have a screw out of reach.

When disposing of used button batteries:

wrap them fully in sticky tape and place them in a glass jar, out of reach of children
throw the batteries away as soon as possible in an outside bin or at a household battery recycling location.

When buying batteries or products that use button batteries:

replace batteries as needed and avoid keeping extras in the home
pick brands that use child-resistant packaging that can only be opened with scissors
try to avoid toys or items that use button batteries, especially if the toy is small and can be swallowed – for example, apple air tags.

Standards and legislation for button batteries

The Australian Government has introduced four mandatory standards for button batteries and products containing button batteries.

Under the mandatory safety and information standards:

products must have secure battery compartments to prevent children from accessing the batteries
Manufacturers must go through compliance testing
Manufacturers must supply batteries in child-resistant packaging
Manufacturers must place additional warnings and emergency advice on packaging and instructions.

Button battery safety