So many button batteries I’ve tested have hidden dangers – but this brand gets it right

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Lithium button cells may cause extreme harm or demise if swallowed.
• Many manufacturers coat their batteries in a bitter substance to discourage ingestion.
• Energizer has now added a marker dye to make it simpler to identify ingestion.

Lithium button cell (generally known as coin cell) batteries are in every single place, from automotive key fobs to AirTags. And whereas they appear harmless sufficient, if ingested, they will trigger extreme harm from esophageal or airway injury in lower than two hours, which may, within the worst instances, lead to demise.

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Annually within the US alone, some 3,500 button cells are swallowed, principally by youngsters. I’ve encountered one such harm myself, and seen various examples in first help coaching supplies, and it’s no joke.  

Making button cells safer requires two issues: stopping unintentional ingestion and having the ability to spot if a button cell has been ingested.

For a number of years now, a number of button cell producers have been coating their batteries in Bitrex, a innocent chemical compound that is probably the most bitter substance identified. A thimbleful in an Olympic-sized swimming pool could make all of the water bitter. 

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This substance is added to a wide selection of merchandise to stop ingestion, from bleach and antifreeze to Nintendo game cards. And let me let you know, these things is terrible (in case you do not imagine me, you’ll be able to really request a free taste test kit from the maker).

One other step that producers have taken is to make the packaging laborious to open with out utilizing scissors. This makes it a lot tougher for adults and kids alike to entry new batteries.

Battery maker Energizer has taken issues a step additional with its Color Alert line. Along with hard-to-open packaging and a liberal software of Bitrex, a patch of dye has been utilized to the battery to make it extra apparent if it has been in somebody’s mouth. The Coloration Alert line covers widespread button cell sizes reminiscent of CR2032, CR2025, and CR2016.

The food-grade dye is utilized in dots to the again of the battery. It would not appear like a lot, nevertheless it’s greater than sufficient!

As soon as this comes into contact with water or saliva, it dissolves and spreads quickly, going in every single place. The brilliant blue actually reveals up in opposition to pores and skin, particularly within the mouth and on the tongue. 

The dye stains pores and skin for a lot of hours (in my checks, it stayed on my pores and skin for a lot of hours, resisting a number of makes an attempt to clean it off), and may alert caregivers to the truth that a button cell could have been ingested.

Oh sure, and do not forget concerning the Bitrex within the dye. I taste-tested it and regretted it! 

When you suspect {that a} button cell has been ingested, go to the emergency room instantly.

If you’re not sure, name Poison Management instantly on 1-800-222-1222.

The dye and Bitrex coating appear to have no impact on the usability of the batteries. There was an issue with some Duracell cells being problematic in some units — notably AirTags — however I’ve not had any comparable points with the Energizer cells. 

These are the most secure button cells I’ve used, and as such, I like to recommend that you simply purchase solely them. They hold you secure (not that the majority of my readers are going to eat batteries), hold youngsters and susceptible individuals round you secure, and in addition assist to maintain pets secure (yeah, a few of them will eat coin cells, too). 

I’ve had no downside with Energizer batteries — I additionally use the lithium AA and AAA batteries the place I want lengthy life or resistance to chilly temperatures — and costs are cheap. A six-pack of CR2032, probably the most generally used measurement, and the one that matches into AirTags, is simply $7.