🔋 Improved Button Batteries: A Lesson on How Manufacturers Should Respond to Child Safety Concerns
Button batteries and their dangers have been a major concern for child-health advocates in recent years.
They power everyday objects like remote controls, toys, watches and smart devices. But if a young child swallows one, the consequences can be devastating. A battery lodged in the oesophagus can cause severe internal burns in as little as two hours.
For 18-month-old Reese Hamsmith, this danger became a heartbreaking reality.
In December 2020, Baby Reese tragically passed away after swallowing a button battery from a household remote control, despite weeks of medical treatment and surgeries.
Her death galvanised her family’s advocacy for child safety, helping drive greater awareness and stronger protections, including the US Reese’s Law, signed in 2022.
That advocacy has also helped inspire industry action. Through a partnership with Reese’s Purpose, Energizer developed its Ultimate Child Shield button batteries, incorporating important safety features:
🔵 Specially engineered technology designed to reduce the severity of ingestion-related burns.
🔵 Blue dye that activates with moisture, providing a visible warning to caregivers.
🔵 A bitter coating intended to discourage swallowing.
🔵 Child-resistant packaging designed to make batteries harder for children to access.
These features do not eliminate the danger of swallowing a button battery. Nonetheless, this is an important example of what a meaningful child-safety response in product design can look like.
The lesson extends far beyond batteries.
Whether we are talking about household products, children's toys or emerging AI technologies, manufacturers must anticipate foreseeable risks to children and build meaningful safeguards into their products from the beginning.
Parents have a responsibility to protect their children. But they should not be left carrying the entire burden of risks that manufacturers can help prevent.
Child safety should never be an afterthought in product development. It should be a design priority.
- Reproductive Health Observatory
Neonatal DAO