Viva Vitality: Button battery safety

By Emily Gardner-Everton on December 27, 2025.

The Holiday Season can be an exciting and busy time of year. Some family’s favourite memories include being surrounded by loved ones, eating yummy food and sharing stories from the year. Highlights for children can include exciting new toys. During the whirlwind of this time of year it is important to be aware of the harm that can come from button batteries.

Button batteries are small coin shaped batteries. They come in a variety of sizes but are typically small, shiny and round. These batteries can be found in toys, watches, calculators, thermometers, remote controls, flameless candles, musical greeting cards and singing books.

If swallowed, they can cause significant injury. Saliva can cause an electrical current in the battery to be triggered, burning the surrounding tissues causing significant damage to the throat in as little as two hours. Toddlers, who explore the world by putting things in their mouths, are often at increased risk of injury.

If a button battery is swallowed, seek emergency medical attention immediately. Do not wait for symptoms to develop. If you have honey at home, you can give your child 2 teaspoons (10 ml). Do not delay transport to an emergency department to get or give honey. Do not give your child anything else to eat or drink.

While this information can be alarming, there are some simple steps to keep children safe from button batteries (Health Canada, 2024):

– Be aware of all household items that use button batteries.

– Regularly check items to ensure that batteries are secure and can’t be accessed by children.

– Never store batteries near food or medicine.

– Buy toys and devices with battery compartments that screw shut or those that do not use button batteries.

25- Dispose of used button batteries quickly and properly.

Used batteries can still hold enough energy to harm children. Place nonconductive tape, such as electrical or packing tape, on either side of the battery before disposing of them. Local battery drop-offs can be found in various locations, including hardware stores. To find the nearest battery drop off location visit recycleyourbatteries.ca.

This information is not intended to alarm, but rather to support parents and relatives with ways to help prevent injury and avoid harm this holiday season. For more information, visit Battery safety: Button batteries at Canada.ca.

Emily Gardner-Everton is a health promotion facilitator in Health Promotion and Education with Primary Care Alberta.