Trouble in Toyland: button batteries a concern

(WTNH) -- There's a new concern this holiday season, one that could pose a real danger to your children.

In addition to the seasonal concerns about choking and lead hazards from dangerous toys, doctors are urging parents to be very cautious about button batteries.

"Silent night...holy night..."
      
The singing holiday greeting card has the potential to kill your child because the source of the power that plays the music could be deadly: the lithium button size battery.

Doctor Scott Shoem is Director of Head and Neck Surgery at Connecticut Children's Medical Center and twice in recent times he has had to surgically remove a lithium battery from a child's esophagus, the muscular tube that leads from your mouth to your stomach.

"It'll get stuck in your esophagus and within several hours it will literally eat a hole through the esophagus and cause permanent injury or death," said Shoem.

The battery doesn't leak, it's the power in the battery that causes the quick deterioration of the vital tissue.

"It's something that's called a hydrulosis reaction, which is really an electrical current that causes the living or mucosa of the esophagus to slowly decompose," Shoem said.

And the batteries are found in all kinds of devices around your home, but the greeting cards are most dangerous because little hands can easily get at them.

The doctor's alarming warning came Tuesday as the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group released its annual list of toys that can pose a choking or toxic danger, small items that can be swallowed and toys containing heavy concentrations of lead are still on store shelves.

There's a complete report on all these called ' Trouble in Toyland .'