Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Short

Button batteries can be made child-friendly

Child-friendly button batteries 

 

 

American girl Reese Hammersmith would have turned four on 13 June last year, were it not for the fact that at the age of just 18 months, she swallowed a button battery that proved fatal to her.

 

Reportedly, this seems to happen to 2,000 children a year worldwide. The current from an ingested battery dissolves body tissue from the inside, which can lead to permanent damage or even death. The day before Reese’s birthday was declared National Button Battery Awareness Day to alert parents to the danger of button cell batteries for small children.

 

In the Netherlands, TU Delft battery researcher Marnix Wagemaker and technician Frans Ooms together with doctors from Groningen developed a patent-pending child-friendly button battery that does no harm when swallowed. The battery has an internal fuse that breaks contact if the current becomes too high, which is what happens after swallowing. The fused button battery was submitted for patent July last year. 

 

Heart-lung surgeon Tjark Ebels from UMC Groningen, who was involved in the development, says: “The beauty of our patented Fused Button Battery system is that it is compatible with all standard manufacturing processes for button batteries.” He hopes that child-friendly button batteries will soon become the norm. That could prevent a lot of suffering.

 

Science editor Jos Wassink

Do you have a question or comment about this article?

j.w.wassink@tudelft.nl

Comments are closed.