Proposed Battery Regulations Could Raise Prices, Shrink Imprints
The Button Cell Battery Safety Act of 2011 (S. 1165) was introduced by Senator John D. "Jay" Rockefeller (D-WV), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, on June 9. Intended "to protect children and other consumers against hazards associated with the accidental ingestion of button cell batteries," the Act would empower the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to create a new mandatory standard for button cell battery compartments and require manufacturers to include warning labels on product packaging and possibly products themselves.
According to a June 2010 study published in the journal Pediatrics, U.S. poison centers reported more than 3,400 cases of battery ingestion between 2007 and 2010, resulting in hundreds of injuries and six deaths. Many of these instances, Sen. Rockefeller claimed, could have been prevented if the products had secure closures such as those required on children's toys, which are closed by a screw. Several household items, such as remote controls, utilize button cell batteries that can be accessed through a simple sliding panel.
The bill, currently being reviewed by the Committee, could impact a wide variety of retail and promotional products if passed. "The Act indicates that it applies to any battery-operated consumer product. It does not distinguish between items designed or intended for children, and items that are obviously for adults like automotive key remote control," said Larry Whitney, manager, trade compliance for New Kensington, Pennsylvania-based Leed's. "If it has a button cell battery, and it is a consumer product, it would be affected. Promotional products are considered consumer products."
While the Act defines button cell batteries as any battery less than 32 mm in diameter, a size which includes most lithium batteries used in common electronics, it also empowers the CPSC to regulate "any other battery, regardless of the technology used to produce an electrical charge."