Halloween decorations, headbands, candles, jewellery recalled fur button battery issue
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Parents warned to be vigilant this Halloween as an urgent recall has been issued for ‘unsafe’ decorations, headbands, candles and jewelry
- Eleven Halloween products recalled for failing to meet safety standards
- The ACCC has issued the urgent recall for Oceana International products
- The products include masks, headbands, jewelry, candles and decorations
- Items sold in home, discount and variety stores from August to September 13
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Eleven popular Halloween products have been urgent as parents are warned to be wary of items that don’t “meet safety standards.”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued the urgent recall Friday, picking up several popular products from supplier Oceana International.
It warned customers to “stop using the products immediately” and keep them in a safe place out of the reach of children.
The products include various Halloween masks, headbands, jewelry, candles and decorations.
The items were sold from August 1 to September 13 in various home, discount and variety stores.
Eleven popular Halloween products have been urgently recalled by retailers as parents are warned they ‘don’t meet safety standards’
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued the urgent recall on Friday, picking up several popular products from supplier Oceana International
The ACCC said the items did not meet mandatory safety standards for products containing button or coin batteries.
“The battery compartment is not sufficiently secured, so a button battery in the products can be easily accessible,” the committee said.
“If young children access and swallow button batteries, they are likely to suffer severe internal burns, which can lead to serious injury or death.
“Button batteries are also a choking hazard for young children.”
The ACCC said the items did not meet mandatory safety standards for products containing button or coin batteries
On average, one child in Australia is seriously injured each month as a result of swallowing or inserting a button battery, with some lifelong or even fatal injuries.
CPR Kids founder Sarah Hunstead said many families were not even aware of the risks that batteries pose.
“Children are naturally curious and it’s a normal part of their development to put everything in their mouths,” said Ms Hunstead.
“It is therefore of the utmost importance to ensure that lithium button batteries are kept away from young children.”
In 2019, Ms Hunstead demonstrated the dangers of lithium batteries with an experiment on a chicken breast.
This chilling time-lapse experiment with a battery and a chicken breast shows what just one button battery can do if a child swallows it — after 30 minutes (left) and four hours (right)
After inserting a battery into the flesh, she monitored its progress closely over the next several hours, noting that a small amount of burn had already set in around 30 minutes.
By the time four hours had passed, the burn marks were evident and more penetrating.
The effect on the chicken meat reflects what is happening in a child’s body.
Battery Controlled – a campaign supported by Energizer, in partnership with ACCC and Kidsafe – was designed to alert parents and other caregivers to the hidden danger of coin batteries.
It reported that when a coin-sized lithium button battery gets stuck in a child’s throat, “saliva creates an electrical current” that triggers a chemical reaction that can “severely” burn the esophagus in just two hours.
“If this happened to your child, they are likely to cough, drool or complain of discomfort,” the website reads.