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Power Technology

A New Battery Warns Parents if Their Child Has Swallowed It (nytimes.com) 244

A new battery from Energizer comes with "color alert technology" to alert parents if their child has swallowed one. When the coin lithium battery comes into contact with saliva, it activates a blue dye "so parents and caregivers know that medical attention could be required," reports the New York Times. The battery also features more secure packaging and a nontoxic bitter coating. From the report: The new coin lithium battery features more secure packaging, a nontoxic bitter coating to discourage swallowing and "color alert technology" that activates a blue dye when the battery comes into contact with moisture, like saliva, so parents and caregivers know that medical attention could be required. The new battery was announced in a video last week by Energizer and Trista Hamsmith, whose 18-month-old daughter died after swallowing a button battery from a remote control. Ms. Hamsmith founded a nonprofit organization focused on children's safety, successfully advocated for legislation, known as Reese's Law, that requires a secure compartment of the batteries in products that use them as well as stronger warning labels on all packaging, and is now working to make the batteries themselves safer.

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. Secure packaging and bitter coatings for batteries have long existed, but "the massive breakthrough here is the color alert technology, which helps give caretakers that indicator that something has happened," Jeff Roth, the global category leader for batteries at Energizer, said in an interview on Wednesday. "The most significant part about this is getting help early in the process," he said. "That's really what the color alert technology allows the family to do."

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A New Battery Warns Parents if Their Child Has Swallowed It

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  • by kmoser ( 1469707 ) on Thursday May 02, 2024 @02:11AM (#64441228)
    They should build in circuitry that disables the battery when it comes into sustained contact with liquid. That would eliminate most of the danger, before the kid eventually "eliminates" the battery from their system.
    • Re:Even better idea (Score:5, Informative)

      by hwh ( 949081 ) on Thursday May 02, 2024 @02:46AM (#64441274)
      This has already been developed for button type batteries: https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2023... [tudelft.nl]
      • Re:Even better idea (Score:4, Interesting)

        by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Thursday May 02, 2024 @03:50AM (#64441352)

        This has already been developed for button type batteries: TU Delft and RUG/UMCG join forces to develop child-friendly button cell [tudelft.nl]

        Interesting.

        ... developed a child-friendly version by adding a fuse. When this new button cell is ingested, it automatically switches off the power, preventing serious injury, tissue damage or even death.

        That article also suggests giving a child who swallows a coin battery honey -- doesn't say why that is effective -- then taking the kid to a doctor. I'll note that babies under 1-year shouldn't eat honey because, "a type of bacteria (called Clostridium) that causes infant botulism can be found in honey." So there's that... coin battery vs. potential botulism.

        • Yes, there is an antitoxin for botulism, and the amount needed is based on the amount ingested so if it is addressed promptly, you know the rest.

        • Honey would encapsulate the battery and prevent it from short-circuiting in the electrolyte-rich environment of the stomach, preventing a potential gastrointestinal perforation.

    • Damn, I won't be buying any more of those then.

      Surely I can't be the only person who sucks on their batteries to see how much charge is left.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by jabuzz ( 182671 )

      The issue is the cell bursts from contact with stomach acid and leaks nasty stuff into the intestines of the child. Stopping the voltage from the battery will not improve safety one iota.

      • Re:Even better idea (Score:4, Informative)

        by necro81 ( 917438 ) on Thursday May 02, 2024 @07:14AM (#64441660) Journal

        The issue is the cell bursts from contact with stomach acid and leaks nasty stuff into the intestines of the child. Stopping the voltage from the battery will not improve safety one iota

        No, that is incorrect.

        The hazard comes from electrical burns. To quote TFA:

        Children who swallow button or coin batteries face severe risks because the batteries generate an electric current when they come into contact with bodily fluids, like saliva. The current can burn through body tissue and lead to life-threatening complications or even death....“A button cell battery can burn through a child’s throat or esophagus in as little as two hours if swallowed,” according to the [US Product Safety Commission].

        Link to the Product Safety Commission's page [cpsc.gov] on coin cell safety.

        Position statement and references [entnet.org] from the academy of ear nose and throat docs.

  • Legislation... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

    So woman fails to watch her baby. Baby swallows battery. Baby dies.

    Instead of going "FML, I failed as a parent" woman decides to blame society and successfully lobbies to make batteries harder to change for everyone. I guess I know who I need to curse at every time my new chinesium "standard global markets" AC remote needs me to go find a small screwdriver to change batteries rather than just pop it open and change them.

    However color coating on batteries to make people go "FML I failed as a parent" sooner s

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 )

      Noting that this happens way more than it should in many households, she worked to help make things safer. Babies (pets too) get into all sorts of things, no matter how good/attentive parents are -- both mothers *and* fathers.

    • Re:Legislation... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Thursday May 02, 2024 @04:10AM (#64441362) Homepage Journal

      As an engineer, I look at something which can kill someone if the responsible adult's attention wonders for even a few seconds as a design flaw.

      That said, I'm not sure this is the best solution. Nintendo coats their Switch cartridges with something that makes them taste absolutely disgusting. Reflex spit reaction, at any age. I suppose the issue is that batteries need to be conductive all around, because there is no telling where the contact is going to be with a coin cell, but there does have to be an insulating ring separating positive and negative.

      • As an engineer, I look at something which can kill someone if the responsible adult's attention wonders for even a few seconds as a design flaw.

        Look around you. Right now. There are likely a dozen of things within 30 feet of you that can kill you. Not to mention the action of a human stepping into a modern car to drive at highway speeds mere feet from dozens of other cars that are barely maintained on public roads on a daily basis. An activity that kills thousands every day on this planet.

        If you think “something which can kill someone” unless a 100% attention span is maintained is some kind of design flaw, then recognize we live in a

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          You missed the part about a responsible adult not paying attention for a moment. Batteries end up in all sorts of things, not all of them very well made to contain those batteries. They are small enough for babies to swallow.

          • So don't have those things. Anything which takes a coin cell should be removed from the household, or at least locked up in a box where it's inaccessible.

            This is not rocket surgery.

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        This is not what happens here. What happens is that the responsible adult did not realize something was a danger. Or would you regard, say, needles, knives, detergents, matches, magnets, etc. as "flawed designs"?

        Incidentally, that "reflex spit action" does not work at any age.

    • by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Thursday May 02, 2024 @04:28AM (#64441388) Homepage

      You can't watch them 24/7/365. Unfortunately accidents sometimes happen.

    • Re:Legislation... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Thursday May 02, 2024 @04:45AM (#64441422)

      However color coating on batteries to make people go "FML I failed as a parent" sooner so they can actually do something about it is a great idea. And that's not legislated.

      If all it took was blue bitter batteries to make a good parent, parents would be battery-operated by now. Besides, no self-centered narcissist parent would acknowledge they failed. They’d be too busy self-identifying as a “victim”, because feelings.

    • Re:Legislation... (Score:5, Informative)

      by e3m4n ( 947977 ) on Thursday May 02, 2024 @06:19AM (#64441552)
      You dont have kids do you? The first 4 years kids are trying to kill themselves every way possible. Its not the crying at night that wrecks your sleep. Its the constant head on a swivel because you cant turn your back on them even for a second, at least for the first 2 years. Its exhausting. Something like this happened at the daycare we took our kids to. Not AT the daycare, but within a couple degrees of separation. The kid survived, but barely. I cant remember if it was a CR2032 or the smaller hearing aid batteries. Miss the trash one time and not notice if bounced on the floor, then later turn your back for a second while you make dinner. Suddenly all the baby-proofing is for shit. Whats worse is most parents dont even know how bad these things are. Most people assume it will come out in their poop later like swallowing a nickel. I certainly did not know it can be actually fatal until that kid was hospitalized.
    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Indeed. Or man does the same crap. Too many "modern" human beings look for somebody else to blame when they screwed up.

      For the case of "baby dies", there are basically two options 1) Misadventure. It happens. Sometimes things get overlooked even when careful. No punishment, the parent(s) are going to blame themselves enough. 2) Criminally negligent homicide. Make it clear to people that having a baby comes with responsibilities to be taken seriously.

      In all cases: Give people real sex education and give peop

    • Re: Legislation... (Score:3, Informative)

      by beelsebob ( 529313 )

      Did you know, that itâ(TM)s literally not possible for a human to watch another one for literally every waking moment. There are other things that need to happen, like going to the toilet, or cooking food for both you and the child youâ(TM)re caring for, or â¦.

      Blaming parents for not looking at their children every literal second is insanity.

    • woman decides to blame society and successfully lobbies to make batteries harder to change for everyone

      I mean they're literally asking websites to ask for your driver's license for porn because parents apparently can't monitor their children's web habits.

      Parent's routinely hand a electronic brick to their kid, let them load up social media, get bullied online, and then blow their brains out, OMG it must be social media's fault. Not thinking for one second, who handed the brick to the child?

      Just the world we are living in at the moment.

    • Instead of going "FML, I failed as a parent" woman decides to blame society and successfully lobbies to make batteries harder to change for everyone.

      No worse than that guy who couldn't be bothered to check his surroundings and ran over his kid [go.com]. Instead of going "FML, I failed as a parent" he decides to blame society and successfully lobbies to make backup cameras mandatory in every vehicle and now we have to contend with higher costs and higher repair bills when they fail.
    • The issue is quantity. There are more battery operated things in today's world.

      The more battery operated devices there are, the more batteries there are to operate them. The more batteries there are, the greater the opportunity for mistakes to happen.

      I don't judge anyone for making a mistake. Nobody is perfect. If batteries can be made more safe, why would you not do it?

  • to social problems. Be a parent and keep harmful things away from children.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 )

      to social problems. Be a parent and keep harmful things away from children.

      Babies and young children get into all sorts of things -- pets too. In addition, all kinds of babies (human, puppy, etc...) explore the world by putting things in their mouths. Shiny things, like coin batteries, are especially attractive.

      • If we give it a couple generations, evolution could take care of that.

      • by Viol8 ( 599362 )

        I've read that young kids putting things in their mouthst is partly to increase their bacterial biome in their guts. No idea if its true but seems logical. Obviously it fails in the modern world where its not just mud and grass on the ground.

      • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

        by Oddroot ( 4245189 )

        Kids can definitely be taught to not stick non-food-items in their mouths. If kids are being monitored when they are small and taught what is and is not safe, they carry that forward and you don't have to keep as tight a reign on them.

        Source: I'm a dad.

        • Kids can definitely be taught to not stick non-food-items in their mouths. If kids are being monitored when they are small and taught what is and is not safe, they carry that forward and you don't have to keep as tight a reign on them.

          Source: I'm a dad.

          How many children have you raised? I'll bet, one. One who happened to be easy to dissuade from putting stuff in their mouth, so you have extrapolated from that sample of one to all kids everywhere.

          The fact is that kids aren't all the same. Some are easy to train, some aren't.

          Source: I'm a father (4X) and a grandfather. Based on my sample, I should perhaps assert that all babies and toddlers stick everything in their mouths and there's nothing you can do to teach them otherwise until they're at least tw

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Indeed. Especially as the tech "solutions" cannot really fix the problem. Be a damn parent and take responsibility if you decided to have kids or were too stupid to find out how to not have them.

    • I have four kids. Watching their every move unrealistic. Even keeping every possible hazard away from them is impossible. Putting blue dye on batteries is a brilliant idea and will save lives. It's cheap, simple, and in hindsight it's obvious. Kudos to the people who made this safety feature a reality.

  • This would not be a problem. The label clearly states to keep away from children so all the tech in the world isn't going to save your child because mom broke the first rule by leaving the batteries accessible.

    Humans are pedantic.

    • What dildo takes a coin/button battery?

    • by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      A coin-cell powered dildo? Probably will last as long as her husband.

    • By the time mine was about 2 she could easily take stuff apart on her own and unfortunately you can hide stuff, you can watch them as much as you can , but occasionally they'll do things they shouldn't when you're not looking.

      • By the time mine was about 2 she could easily take stuff apart on her own and unfortunately you can hide stuff, you can watch them as much as you can , but occasionally they'll do things they shouldn't when you're not looking.

        That was true with me; my parents said I routinely took apart all sorts of things, including my crib. I think a lot of the comments saying this is 100% preventable are by people who don't have kids or haven't had to watch them for any extended period. Same goes for pets -- like dogs eating chocolate and getting sick.

        • by Viol8 ( 599362 )

          "are by people who don't have kids"

          Absolutely this. Until someone has had kids or at least looked after some for a long period of time they really have no idea.

          • "are by people who don't have kids"

            Absolutely this. Until someone has had kids or at least looked after some for a long period of time they really have no idea.

            And not just one. KIds vary widely and it's not uncommon for parents who've only dealt with a single child to assume that all kids are like that one. Usually adding a second kid is enough to open their eyes when they realize that none of what worked on the first kid works with the second and vice versa. Occasionally parents get two that are very similar and don't learn this until they have a third, or until grandkids come along, or other close exposure.

        • Preventable with effort.

          It might be a lot of effort, but that doesn't mean it's not possible.

          What I actually think is that most parents severely underestimate the difficulty of parenting, so they half-ass it and then if everything works out OK anyway they tell themselves they did a good job. Outcomes are the easiest way to measure, but if they only succeeded by chance, then it really wasn't their doing.

          If you're not willing to sanitize your household to make it child safe then you're not a good parent.

          If yo

  • This technology accomplishes nothing if the baby has swallowed the battery. It only lets parents know if someone may have mouthed the battery.

    Well, okay, if the baby swallows the battery it probably does change color... but unless the parents routinely use an endoscope on their kid, they aren't going to see it (and, if they do see it, they already have other incontrovertible evidence that their child swallowed a battery).

    • It's not the battery alone that changes color, the lips, tongue etc also show the color. Anything that's moist will turn into that color.
      • Just make the battery big enough that the kids while body changes blue when they choke on it. Now, considering there's been a slew of parents just abandoning their kids in cars or going on vacation without them, they wouldn't notice either.
    • by necro81 ( 917438 )

      Well, okay, if the baby swallows the battery it probably does change color... but unless the parents routinely use an endoscope on their kid, they aren't going to see it (and, if they do see it, they already have other incontrovertible evidence that their child swallowed a battery).

      I was also confused by this. The dye is there to color the mouth, not the battery. This is clear on the Energizer product page [energizer.com], but was not made clear in the article or summary.

  • Let's hope the ink that will coat little Suzies mouth doesn't fade too fast. Then we can look for any kids with toilet-cleaner coloured mouths and know their parents are not keeping these things locked away in cupboards out of reach.

    Yes, babies swallow weird stuff... but if bad parents didn't leave them on the table where young mouths could ingest them...

    We've already all been inconvenienced by the cover screws - unwashable Blue mouth for a few weeks might teach the parents not to leave dangerous stuff

    • Blue mouth for a few weeks might teach the parents not to leave dangerous stuff lying around in their spawn's reach.

      Please. You act as if Shame is still recognized and respected in society today.

      I’m fully expecting to read headlines soon telling us all about the “victim” parent who is suing the shit out of the battery company for emotional distress and child PTSD after their child was “attacked” by a battery that left them temporarily stained but somehow permanently scarred.

      That pays out far better in a society dumb enough to reward it.

      • I guess you're right. Never thought I'd understand Abe Simpson's POV as he shook his fist at the clouds.
    • Let's hope the ink that will coat little Suzies mouth doesn't fade too fast. Then we can look for any kids with toilet-cleaner coloured mouths and know their parents are not keeping these things locked away in cupboards out of reach.

      Harsh, bro. I know babies need kept close track of, but locking them in a cupboard?

  • Is that like the old Aussie saying "Try to catch the snake that bit you, we need it for our statistics to know which species killed you"?

    I'd rather try to invent something that makes kid spit those things out instead of swallowing them.

    • I'd rather try to invent something that makes kid spit those things out instead of swallowing them.

      TFS notes:

      The battery also features more secure packaging and a nontoxic bitter coating.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      On that note, emergency rooms in Australia want to stop people doing that because it would be an absolute catastrophe if one of these snakes gets loose in a hospital.

      As to having kids spit the thing out, that only works after they have developed sufficient sense of taste. Hence this can help (if everybody does it, which is not realistic) but it cannot do that much.

  • Answer; no one, they are getting less and less smart with every generation. Meanwhile parents expect everyone else to protect them.. ensuring the continuation of this downward trend.
    • The kids don't need to get smarter, the parents do. Teach your kids to keep things that aren't edible out of their mouths. Also teach them that knives are sharp, falling down hurts, the stove is hot. Being a parent doesn't mean fucking and then just watching the child grow up, they have to be trained and taught. Being a parent carries with it the most responsibility that the average person will ever have.

      My parents taught me this when I was like 8 years old, what the heck is with the current crop of people?

      • by Dusanyu ( 675778 )
        Are you a parent? the age that children like to stuff stuff into there jibs they are not going to learn much
    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      That is actually bullshit in the given context. Kids of a certain age take everything they can in their mouths and sometimes swallow it. No connection to intelligence or insight, it is a natural development stage and there is nothing that can be done about it. The only thing that works is to keep dangerous objects away from the kids at that age. But asking parents to do that and take responsibility is apparently too much to ask these days.

      Obviously, as soon as they are able to understand it, teach them to n

  • Good Grief (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Oddroot ( 4245189 ) on Thursday May 02, 2024 @05:30AM (#64441484)

    I mean, or, you know, teach your kids to not eat everything they put their hands on?

    I never "childproofed" anything in my house. None of those stupid little plugs in the outlets, no doors locked shut, no protective edge covers on every hard surface. We taught our kids that some things are dangerous and shouldn't be messed with. Don't run in the house or you'll crack your head, don't touch the stove because you'll burn yourself, etc etc. My parents (and my wife's parents) taught us the same way and we are fine in our 40s. My kids are teenagers now, still no problems.

    I mean, hells bells, we kept loaded guns in the house, same as most of the people I know from where I lived then, kids never touched them unless they were allowed to. Both my kids had shot .22s by the time they were 5 years old, and today my daughter looks forward to her birthday for a couple new boxes of ammo to hit the range.

    I do hand-tool woodworking as hobby, so I've got sharp implements everywhere, never had one of the kids hurt themselves on any of them, because I taught the kids that certain things have the capacity for harm and therefore must be respected.

    That was a very long-winded way of just saying, parent your damn kids, teach them how to live in the world, wrapping them in bubble-wrap is stupid.

    • You realise that thereâ(TM)s a natural human developmental stage where literally everything the kid gets its hands on gets stuffed in their mouth?

      Thereâ(TM)s no teaching them not to do it at that age, itâ(TM)s just something that they do. And no, you canâ(TM)t watch them literally every second of the day, itâ(TM)s simply not possible.

      • And no, you canÃ(TM)t watch them literally every second of the day, itÃ(TM)s simply not possible.

        It is possible if both parents don't have to go to work. People used to literally be with their children all day for the first few years of their lives. They didn't want them to wander off into the woods and get eaten by a wildcat or whatever.

        • And no, you canÃ(TM)t watch them literally every second of the day, itÃ(TM)s simply not possible.

          It is possible if both parents don't have to go to work. People used to literally be with their children all day for the first few years of their lives. They didn't want them to wander off into the woods and get eaten by a wildcat or whatever.

          This is what we did, my wife stopped working while the kids were young and stayed home with them. We had to make some material sacrifices during that time but we managed, and the kids were much better off for it. She went back to work but ended up coming back home anyway, because we had long-since already adjusted to just my income.

        • It is possible if both parents don't have to go to work.

          It is not, not even then. You'd need at least three parents: One to go to work, one to stay with the kid, one to cover for the second when they have to do something other than watching the kid (clean the house, do the laundry, use the bathroom, etc.). Oh, sure, you can try to put the kid in a safe environment while you do stuff, but many young children are shockingly good at finding ways to get into stuff they're not supposed to get into, and do it far faster than you would expect.

          A team of nannies can

      • You realise that thereâ(TM)s a natural human developmental stage where literally everything the kid gets its hands on gets stuffed in their mouth?

        Thereâ(TM)s no teaching them not to do it at that age, itâ(TM)s just something that they do. And no, you canâ(TM)t watch them literally every second of the day, itâ(TM)s simply not possible.

        My son never wanted to put non-food items in his mouth, it was just not something that ever really appealed to him. If it didn't smell like food, it didn't go in his mouth.

        My daughter on the other hand wanted to put things in her mouth. I say wanted because when she would try to stick non-food stuff in my wife or I would stop her and chastise her. It did not take very long, even as a young baby, for her to learn what was and wasn't okay to try to eat.

        This is obvious to anyone who thinks about it at all, if

  • by Spinlock_1977 ( 777598 ) <{moc.oohay} {ta} {7791_kcolnipS}> on Thursday May 02, 2024 @06:35AM (#64441580) Journal

    There's an easy way to tell if your baby has swallowed a battery: Take the baby's left hand and right foot and touch them to the end of your tongue.

  • It will only encourage older children to lick the batteries to turn their tongues blue. And eventually, someone will swallow a battery and not want to tell Mom and Dad about their stupid misadventure.
  • It helps very little if some batteries (and no magnets) do this. What would be required is for all of them doing it, but that is in no way realistic. Instead, just like knives, needles, matches, cleaning fluids, detergents and other chemicals, etc. parents need to sanitize the environment for kids that do not yet have enough understanding to not do this.

    • It helps very little if some batteries (and no magnets) do this. What would be required is for all of them doing it, but that is in no way realistic. Instead, just like knives, needles, matches, cleaning fluids, detergents and other chemicals, etc. parents need to sanitize the environment for kids that do not yet have enough understanding to not do this.

      This, also, is not a great approach. You have control over hazards in your own home, do you never take your child outside? To other people's homes?

      Last I checked, rocks are still hard and will hurt you if you fall on them, water will still drown you even in small pools, cars can run over small children and indeed are more apt to since kids are erratic sometimes and harder to see.

      You don't sanitize the environment, you prepare your children for the hazards that exist in it. Teach kids not to touch things tha

  • Just really getting out of hand with this nonsense....

  • But don't make things even more expensive or difficult for the rest of us because you didn't parent. We can only Nanny State everyone so far - IMHO this is too far.

    Child proof bottles? Sure. Tamper resistant outlets? well, oook, but it only took a decade for them to design them to almost work as well as normal outlets at triple the price. Meanwhile the rest of us didn't die from sticking things into an outlet, or eating batteries.
    • I don't see a problem here.

      One battery company is offering a product with a feature that some people will find attractive and purchase.

      If you don't want to pay for the feature, don't buy it.... FFS...

  • I saw it in a documentary.

  • I've seen product review that says bitter coated batteries don't work in some devices. k.i.s.s.

  • This is cool actually. I've noticed Duracell has already had the Bittrex coating for years now, which might discourage a kid from eating it. The blue dye is a nice touch though, because it helps with the question: "Did he really swallow that?"

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