The deadly household items harming Aussie kids

They can be found throughout your home, and send 20 kids to hospital a week. These deadly, everyday items can kill in hours.

A heartbroken mother has urged parents to check their homes for a deadly but common product that killed her own daughter, with multiple Aussie kids still hospitalised every week.

Allison Burns’ daughter Isabella Rees died in 2015, aged just 14-months, after swallowing a button battery she was believed to have found at a local park.

The small, shiny batteries have been used to power countless items but, if swallowed by a child, can burn a hole in their oesophagus in just two hours and have killed three Australian children.

New 2022 laws in 2022 introduced stricter product standards — including having secure, childproof compartments for the batteries — but Ms Burns said homes were still filled with dangerous items that breached the rules, or more commonly, were purchased pre-2022.

“A lot of people don’t realise the extent of the damage that button batteries can do,” she said.

“They have a general perception that maybe they’re a choking hazard, but don’t necessarily understand that these things are fatal and can cause lifelong injuries.”

Allison Burns’ daughter Isabella Rees died after swallowing a button battery. She has campaigned for change ever since, and was awarded an OAM for her efforts this month. Picture: Tony Gough

She said many people didn’t make a connection between a moving, flashing or sound-producing device – such as a musical birthday card – and its source of power.

“Think about, I have this item that flashes or moves or makes sound, but how is it powered,” she said.

“We have twenty children a week going into hospital in Australia.

“By now I would have hoped those statistics would start to decrease … but we’ve still got all these product recalls coming through and people still have things in their home.”

In the last six months alone, dozens of products have been recalled for failing to meet safety standards, including children’s toys and items sold at big name retailers including Kmart, Woolworths, Big W, Chemist Warehouse, Costco and Hungry Jack’s.

While button batteries can be found in many different products, common items could include kids’ toys with light or sound effects, remote controls, novelty key rings, watches, flameless candles, watches, cameras, calculators, fitness devices and digital scales.

Speaking to the Herald Sun for button battery awareness day, Ms Burns called on the ACCC to crack down on companies who flout the new laws with more than 200 recalls already issued.

“Companies and manufacturers need to take accountability for the safety of everybody in Australia,” she said.

“Unless these companies are getting fined, they are not going to change.”

“If they don’t follow the rules, well then there needs to be consequences.”

She said it was not just parents who could make a difference, and encouraged anyone who might ever have children in their home, or buy presents for them, to check items kids can access, and to also dispose of batteries safely.

An awareness poster from Choice. Parents like Allison Burns have spent years calling for change and educating the community.

“We’re getting fires in the rubbish bins,” she said.

“Tape the batteries with sticky tape on both sides and take them to a local B-cycle recycling point.”

An ACCC spokeswoman said they had issued fines for battery button breaches, including penalties of more than $100,000, each, against Dusk and the Reject Shop last year for selling unsafe products.

“The ACCC has undertaken a range of compliance and enforcement activities to address non-compliance, including warning letters and investigations,” she said.

“The ACCC takes alleged non-compliance with the button battery standards very seriously and will continue to take enforcement action where necessary.

“It is a supplier’s responsibility to ensure they are compliant.”