Christmas
has come and gone and if you are like most families you now have a quite a few
new battery operated toys and gadgets around your house. These battery operated
gizmos are lots of fun but make sure that you are using About 3,700 people a
year are treated in hospital emergency rooms for battery-related chemical
burns—and many of those treated are children under the age of 16. Take a few
minutes to find out how to avoid the risk of being burned by household
batteries:
·
Take care when
recharging. Rechargeable batteries are great, but you must be careful to use the
right kind of charger for the type and size battery you have. Never use an
automobile battery charger to recharge flashlight batteries, and never try to
recharge a disposable battery; in both cases, the battery can easily rupture,
which puts you at risk for a painful chemical burn.
·
Don’t mix batteries. If you try to replace just one of several
old batteries in an appliance, the batteries may overheat and rupture. The same
thing can happen if you mix alkaline batteries—the most common type—with
carbon-zinc batteries in the same appliance. Always use a complete set of new
batteries of the same type when replacing batteries.
·
Install
batteries properly. Be sure to put the positive and negative ends of the battery
in the right position in your appliance; reversing the battery runs the risk of
overheating, rupture, and chemical burn. This problem often arises when children
try to replace batteries in toys. Don’t let your kids replace batteries
themselves; do it for them!