It is important that those around young children adopt the right reflexes in order to prevent risks and react in the event of ingestion, even supposed, of button batteries.
In order to avoid any risk, the following instructions must be observed:
- keep button cell batteries out of reach of children (including used batteries);
- check that the battery compartment is secure and cannot be opened. Otherwise, do not leave the object containing the button batteries available to a child;
- favor the purchase of devices whose battery compartment is secure (presence of a screw or need to perform two independent maneuvers to open it);
- in case of ingestion, EVEN SUPPOSED, of a button battery, IMMEDIATELY contact a poison control center or 15 by explicitly indicating to your interlocutor that it is regarding the ingestion of a button battery. Every minute counts!
It is estimated that, each year in France, more than 1,200 emergency room visits are linked to the ingestion of button batteries. They mainly concern 0-5 year olds.
Over the 2015-2018 period, the DGCCRF inspected 133 electric toys, 5 of which were found to be non-compliant, the button batteries being accessible. Luminous hand-spinners have thus been withdrawn from the market. The DGCCRF is continuing inspections relating to the accessibility of batteries in electric toys and will also be interested in the safety of packaging for button batteries. These surveys, carried out at all stages of the market, aim to prevent the risks that may arise from the inappropriate use of button batteries, in particular by young children.
As part of a joint action, the Directorate General for Health (DGS), the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF), the National Food Safety Agency , Environment and Labor (ANSES) work with the professionals involved in the marketing of batteries or products containing button batteries, in order to improve product safety and prevent accidents.
Centres anti-poison : centres-antipoison.net
