A recent Consumer Reports evaluation of 31 toys and household items uncovered an alarming safety risk for children from button cell and coin cell batteries.
CR said almost 1 in 3 of the products had dangerously accessible button batteries, and many more lacked clear warnings about the severe health hazards the batteries pose.
Button batteries are not just a choking hazard for children. They can also cause life-threatening injuries like severe chemical burns and poisoning if ingested.
Between 2011 and 2021, an estimated 54,300 emergency room visits and at least 25 deaths were attributed to button battery exposure, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). An estimated 78% of those incidents involved children aged 6 or younger.
“It’s unacceptable that so many button battery-powered products, including children’s toys, lacked lifesaving information on their warning labels and it was so easy to access these batteries,” said Gabe Knight, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports. “In addition to safer design and sturdier compartments, clear, conspicuous, and informative warnings on these products can help alert parents and caregivers to the potential danger.”
Enacted in 2022, Reese’s Law — named after Reese Elizabeth Hamsmith, an 18-month-old girl in Lubbock, Texas, who tragically passed away four years ago from a button battery ingestion — set federal requirements for button battery packaging and warnings.
Congress passed the law following tireless, impassioned advocacy from Reese’s mother, Trista, and the child safety advocacy organization she founded, Reese’s Purpose.
After the law’s enactment, the CPSC created a safety standard mandating secure compartments for such batteries in many products and specific warning labels. CR strongly supported both the federal law and the CPSC rule.
But after its evaluation, CR said critical gaps remain.
Toys are regulated under a separate, weaker standard, and the new CPSC requirements only apply to products manufactured or imported after March 19, 2024, CR warned.
Alongside Reese’s Purpose, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Kids in Danger, and other consumer and public health groups, CR supported the agency’s proposed rule that would bring toy requirements more in line with the stronger protections already in place for other consumer products.
“Reese’s Law set a vital precedent for button battery safety, but it’s not enough,” Trista Hamsmith said. “Toy safety standards must be brought up to the same level to close the gaps and protect children. The time to act is now. These are preventable risks, and we need consistent, strong protections across all products.”
CR sent a letter this month to the CPSC detailing its findings from evaluating products with button batteries and urged the agency to finalize its proposed rule to strengthen the toy safety standards.
The letter highlights how easily accessible battery compartments can be, leaving children vulnerable to this preventable harm. To amplify its efforts, CR also launched a petition calling on the Toy Association, representing the toy industry in the United States, to support stronger battery safety standards for toys to better protect children from injury and death.
CR said it calls on retailers, including online marketplaces, to remove risky products from their stores, whether old or new, and across all categories.
Following outreach from CR, Amazon said that all of the products CR flagged have now either been removed from the site, are in compliance, or are under review.
Home Depot told CR that the retailer has now stopped selling red tealights with an easy-to-open battery compartment after the safety risks were brought to their attention.
“Whether people shop online or in person, convenience should never come at the expense of a child’s safety. Parents have enough to worry about every day without the added stress that their child could easily access one of these batteries and end up in the hospital—or worse,” said Knight. “Retailers should have stronger measures in place that would keep dangerous products off their store shelves, apps, and websites and keep children safe.”
CR urges consumers to be vigilant about the toys brought into their homes.
To help, CR offers the following safety tips:
- Check to see what products already in your home use button batteries. If you find any that do, check that their battery compartment is secure.
- Try to buy new products from reputable, recognized retailer brands that are more likely to be made of higher quality materials, and more likely to be designed with safety in mind.
- In most cases, button battery-powered products come with the batteries already installed. But if you do ever have to buy replacements, there are safer battery options out there. For instance, Energizer is beginning to sell button batteries that have a bitter-tasting coating to them, to discourage swallowing, and that will turn babies’ mouths blue to help alert parents. Duracell puts a bitter-tasting coating on three sizes of button batteries as well.
- Store unused batteries of all kinds in a safe place where kids can’t reach them.
- Know that easily exposed batteries can show up in unexpected places, too: in musical greeting cards, for instance.
- If you have something with a battery compartment that seems flimsy, get rid of it. In addition, report the product to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, via SaferProducts.gov.
- Symptoms of battery ingestion or insertion can mimic a lot of other common ailments; there might also be no symptoms at all. But if you think someone in your household may have swallowed a battery or put one in an ear or nose, call the Battery Ingestion Hotline (800-498-8666) or the Poison Help Line (800-222-1222) immediately.