AAP
July 05, 2013
AUSTRALIA’S consumer watchdog is looking into ways to improve the safety around lithium batteries following the death of a four-year-old Queensland girl this week.
Summer Steer from the Sunshine Coast died on Sunday after swallowing a lithium button battery.
About five children are taken to emergency departments each week after swallowing button batteries, which can burn through the oesophagus to reach internal organs in only a few hours.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Friday urged parents and carers to be aware of the risks posed by the coin-sized batteries.
“(They) are a severe and little known risk for children,” warned ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard.
When swallowed, the coin-sized lithium button batteries can lodge in a child’s throat.
Saliva then triggers an electrical current, causing a chemical reaction that can severely burn through the child’s oesophagus to reach internal organs such as the lungs, arteries and spine in only a few hours.
“These batteries only pose a risk if children get their hands on them so we are urging parents to keep them out of sight and out of reach,” Ms Rickard said.
She says it is also important for parents to know what to do if something does go wrong.
An estimated five children a week in Australia present to hospitals with a button battery-related injury, she added.
The batteries are found in many common household products such as car-door remote controls, TV controls, calculators and hearing aids.
The ACCC has convened an industry forum looking into issues such as battery design, packaging, warnings and displays, to be held in Sydney on Friday.
It will include major button battery manufacturers, retailers and various industry bodies.
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