Children at risk as "button" battery use grows: study

n">Children
face a growing risk from "button" batteries, according to a U.S. study
showing a near doubling of emergency room visits in the past two decades
as the objects can cause electrical or chemical burns if swallowed.
Most of those emergency room
trips are due to coin-shaped batteries that have become ubiquitous in
toys, remote controls and hearing aids and represent a shiny temptation
to curious toddlers, according to a study in Pediatrics, the journal of
the American Academy of Pediatrics."Button"
batteries carry extra risks, experts said, because they can send an
electrical current through esophageal tissue, eventually even burning a
hole in the trachea or the esophagus - without children showing any
signs of immediate injury.

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