Families have been spending more time at home combining work, school and home life into one. A recent report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that ER-treated injuries related to button batteries were up 93% among young children during the pandemic. Today, Duracell officially announced an alliance with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to raise awareness of the issue and distribute lifesaving information.
Duracell and the AAP are teaming up to create new lithium coin battery safety education materials to pediatricians and parents across the country. This includes a new safety checklist that outlines a growing number of common household devices that use these small batteries, along with information on how to safely store them. Pediatricians all across the country will share this new checklist with parents and caregivers of young children during their annual well-visits. Parents and caregivers will also be able to download the lithium coin battery safety checklist on Duracell.com and HealthyChildren.org.
“Young children are curious by nature, and part of their exploration of the world around them can include putting things in their mouths. This makes it particularly important to keep dangerous objects like small batteries safely stored away,” said pediatrician Ben Hoffman, MD, FAAP, chair of the Council on Injury, Violence, & Poison Prevention of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “We’re all spending more time in our homes, and there are devices everywhere, like remotes, key fobs and thermometers that may include small lithium coin batteries that are a hidden danger. In the past two decades, we’ve seen an increase in emergencies when young children have swallowed lithium coin batteries, as well as button batteries, with sometimes devastating results. Parents should keep batteries away from young children. Secure packaging and product innovations like a bitter coating offer additional layers of safety to help protect children.”
This alliance is the next phase of the “Power Safely” program, which Duracell launched in October 2020 with the brand’s breakthrough lithium coin battery that has a non-toxic bitter coating to discourage swallowing, and comes inside child-secure packaging.
“Duracell is devoted to giving parents and caregivers another line of defense when it comes to helping avoid accidental ingestions, which is why we have launched a non-toxic bitter coating on our most popular lithium coin battery sizes that is designed to help discourage swallowing,” said Roberto Mendez, President, Duracell North America. “Duracell is deeply committed to the relationship with the AAP, which will help educate parents and caregivers on the importance of practicing lithium coin battery safety throughout the home and help guide Duracell as we launch future safety innovations.”
