Proposals to prevent child deaths from button batteries

There is a significant risk to small children from swallowing button batteries — they can become lodged in the oesophagus (food pipe) and can cause a chemical reaction that erodes tissue in just two hours.

A three-year-old girl in Britain swallowed a 23mm battery in the run-up to Christmas 2017 and died. Her parents’ made constant efforts over days to seek treatment for the child, who was initially diagnosed with tonsillitis and prescribed antibiotics.