KDSN RADIO News
Batteries in Christmas toys can pose a danger to Iowa kids
If you had hand-held video games, watches or any other electronics under your tree, those shiny, button-sized batteries were likely in the box, too, and those batteries can be a critical problem if a child swallows one.
Janna Day, a nurse and the education and outreach manager at the Iowa Poison Control Center, says the moisture in the throat can trigger the flow of current in the battery, which can lead to serious trouble in the esophagus.
“The esophagus is that tube that goes from your mouth down to your stomach, and if a battery gets stuck there, it can cause some really significant burning,” Day says. “That can happen quite quickly, even within just a couple of hours of that ingestion, there can be burning down in the esophagus.”
Curious kids can find those batteries in all sorts of products, from bathroom scales to grandma’s hearing aids. Unfortunately, it likely means a trip to the ER for X-rays if a battery is swallowed.
“If you know that a child or somebody that you are around has ingested one of those small button batteries, call us right away,” Day says. “It is definitely an emergency situation.”
Other potential hazards are lurking. Many Iowans have ice melting products in their garages, for use on the sidewalk and driveway. Day says those tiny granules of ice melt might look appetizing to a child, so keep them out of reach.
“Keep your ice melt stored somewhere, safely away from kids and away from pets,” Day says. “Keep it in its original packaging, just in case there is an ingestion. If you call us, we’re going to ask you a little bit about the product, and so if you have the original container, that is really helpful.”
If your child ate ice melt, or anything else questionable, be on the safe side and call the Sioux City-based Iowa Poison Control Center. The experts are available any day, around-the-clock at 1-800-222-1222.
