Lifestyle
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Doctor says button batteries burn tissue in under 2 hours
Hindustan Times··30 Aug
Neonatologist Dr Bhawna Malik said a button battery stuck in a child's oesophagus can cause severe tissue injury in less than two hours. The cells are common in toys, remotes, watches and hearing aids. Children may swallow them after mistaking them for sweets or coins. Contact with moist tissue can create electrical current and a highly alkaline burn, she said.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Homes with button-battery toys, remotes or hearing aids are the setting Dr Malik flags for toddler risk.
- Injury can advance in less than two hours even if a child still looks well at first.
- The report frames a stuck oesophageal battery as a medical emergency needing prompt hospital care.
What's Happening
- Dr Malik said small, round, shiny cells are easy for young children to mistake for harmless objects.
- Hydroxide ions form around a lodged battery and create a highly alkaline burn zone.
- Hindustan Times carried the explainer in its Lifestyle health section.
What Households Need To Know
- Devices listed include TV remotes, car keys, calculators, musical cards and thermometers.
- The piece is clinical guidance attributed to a neonatologist, not a new legal ban.
- Health Shots branding appears on the doctor quote inside the Hindustan Times page.
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