We have campaigned for safer button batteries for some time. You may recall they short-circuit if a child swallows one, or inserts it into a tight space like their nostrils. This can cause them serious burns if the button battery remains in their body for a few hours. The root cause is a design fault that puts the terminals close to each other.
Two Sharp Minds Develop Safer Button Batteries
This development is a joint initiative between a MIT engineer and a hospital bio-engineer. “It’s essentially a waterproof insulating coating that, when you apply force to it converts into a conductor,” explains Jeff Karp.
Jeff is bio-engineer at Brigham Women’s Hospital in Boston, and he knows what button batteries are doing to small children. He formed a joint initiative with Bob Langer from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their ‘Lansdowne Glaze’, as they call it is essentially a silicone coating laced with metal micro particles. Could it be so easy to have safer button batteries this way?
Will Battery Manufacturers Take Up the Challenge?
Bob Altabet, former business manager at Duracell told IEEE Spectrum he thinks battery makers might take up the idea. “Some of it obviously depends on the cost versus benefit, but in principle they would all be inclined to do things that promote safety.”
Melissa Fenterstock, CEO of Langer and Karp’s start-up company Landsdowne Labs has a more optimistic approach. “If it’s a penny or less [to manufacture]they’d be willing to entertain it,” she says and this seems likely. The ex-Duracell manager added, “The moment one of them does it, they’ll all do it. Because they’ll be worried about the liability consequences,” if they do not.
We are on the brink of saving little children from horrible harm. But we seem to be squabbling over pennies when there is so much to gain. We wish somebody would pick up the challenge. We for one would happily pay a few more pennies for safer button batteries.
Related
New Zealand’s Button Batteries Face Scrutiny
How to Protect Kids from Button Battery Burns
Preview Image: Button Battery
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