CONSUMER POLICY

EU Consumer Policy Commissioner Neven Mimica attended an awareness raising event about the dangers button batteries pose to health when swallowed or inhaled. He said:
"Button batteries are found in all kinds of electrical devices we have at home, many of them easy to reach by our children - calculators, TV remote controls, bathroom or kitchen scales, reading lights and greeting cards. Most of us are not aware of the dangers these small items bring along: if swallowed, they cause fatalities.
My goal is to raise awareness among parents, who should know the risks and take good care that appliances and devices which use button batteries are kept away from their children. I also call for manufacturers to take these risks into account when designing new products and put the safety of consumers first."

The event took place within International Product Safety Week 2014, running between 16 and 20 June 2014.

• Pictures from the event
• Video from the event
• OECD webpage on Button Batteries