Beware of Batteries

   If you have little ones in your home, be aware of the dangers of batteries.  Tiny batteries found in watches and even larger ones used in toys can be hazardous to young children and in some cases deadly.
From the Los Angeles Times 
  Emergency room visits resulting from children swallowing batteries or sticking them into other orifices doubled between 1990 and 2009, researchers said Monday. There were an estimated 5,525 ER visits caused by batteries in 2009, with the bulk of them occurring in children under the age of 5, according to a team from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Most of them were caused by button batteries, the small, disc-like batteries found in many games and other electronic devices.
  Swallowing a battery is often harmless, but the devices can cause serious problems if they become lodged in the esophagus, the nose or the ear. If they are surrounded by liquid, they can generate an external current that causes electrolysis of tissue fluids and the generation of corrosive hydroxide at the battery's negative pole, with potentially lethal results in as little as two hours. Cylindrical batteries can produce problems if their corrosive alkaline contents leak, either from faulty construction or from a child chewing on them. A 2010 study suggested an "alarming" 6.7-fold increase in severe and fatal outcomes from swallowing button batteries between 1985 and 2009.
  Dr. Gary A. Smith of the hospital's Center for Injury Research and Policy and his colleagues studied data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which collects data from a representative sample of hospital emergency rooms, including children's hospitals. They identified all battery-related visits among those under 18 years of age between 1990 and 2009. They reported in the journal Pediatrics that the yearly number of visits increased from 2,591 in 1990 to 5,525 in 2009, with the bulk of those occurring among children under the age of 5.
  The team found that 84% of all swallowed batteries were button-type, with 29% coming from toys, 16% from hearing aids, 14% from watches and 12% from calculators. Among children who suffered chemical burns to the mouth, in contrast, cylindrical batteries were responsible for more than 90% of cases. The bulk of insertions into the nose and the ear involved button batteries; intriguingly, most of insertions into the ear involved children and adolescents over the age of 5, while insertions into the nose were most likely for children under age 5.
  The researchers recommend that parents keep loose batteries safely hidden away from children and that the battery compartments of toys and other devices be securely taped shut.