Button Cell Battery Demonstration

Button cell batteries may cause harm if swallowed, as saliva may energize the battery. UL’s John Drengenberg, Consumer Safety Director, demonstrates what may happen if a button cell battery comes into contact with someone’s stomach, using bologna, solution and a battery.

[@mamamo1130]

Our daughter spent 15 days in the hospital after swallowing a nickel-sized coin battery. The battery lodged in her esophagus and although it was removed surgically within 3 hours, she still had considerable damage to the lining of her esophagus. She endured a picc line, feeding tube, and several MRIs throughout her hospitalization. These are very common in children's toys, including musical greeting cards for toddlers! How easy it would be to pull apart, and the parents would never know that their child had ingested it.

[@Badgerheist]

Suggested description edits: "saliva" not "salvia" and what is this mysterious "solution" you used?

[@ULSolutions]

Thanks - typo corrected. Can reach out to engineering to confirm what is in the solution.

[@Badgerheist]

@@ULSolutions awesome. Thanks for the response. I figured it was probably just some saline solution or vinegar, but would still be interesting to know. I appreciate your efforts to make and share an educational video to spread safety awareness.

[@ULSolutions]

Hi again - heard back from our technical expert: "It’s contact lens solution, which mimics the ionic behavior of saliva. In medical experiments they use artificial saliva but that’s not needed for this experiment.” Hope this is helpful!

[@carlinsubas76]

15 minutes?

[@crystalnoname1896]

hydrochloric acid could be the cause of the ham turning black couldn't it?

[@johnanders8861]

crystal noname it’s just the electrolyte, it is probably only 0.5 molar HCl, just enough to act as an electrolyte.

[@vivekphilipvarghese]

@@johnanders8861 Loads of assumptions there mate