Reese's Law has been Signed by US President to Strengthen Safety on Button Batteries

2022-09-08

On 2022-08-16, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law a bill to strengthen safety on button batteries, after the death of Reese Hamsmith, an 18-month-old girl who died in December 2020 after swallowing a button battery. This legislation is thus named as "Reese's Law" – to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Significance:

The term "button cell or coin battery" (abbreviated as "button battery" hereunder) in this Law means:

(A) a single cell battery with a diameter greater than its height;

(B) any other battery, regardless of the technology used to produce an electrical charge, that is determined by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to pose an ingestion hazard.

This law requires CPSC to establish product safety standards with respect to these button batteries that pose an ingestion hazard, not later than 1 year after this Act's enactment date (2022-01-03), and consumer products containing them (referred to as "the products" hereunder), the requirements are as follows:

Item	Requirements
Battery Compartments of the Products	They should be secured in a manner that would eliminate or adequately reduce the risk of injury from ingestion of the coin batteries by children that are 6 years of age or younger during reasonably foreseeable use or misuse conditions.
Warning Label	(A) To be included on the packaging of the coin batteries and the packaging of the products; (B) To be included in any literature, such as a user manual, that accompanies the products; and (C) To be included, as practicable: (i) directly on the products in a manner that is visible to the consumer upon installation or replacement of the battery; or (ii) in the case of a product for which the battery is not intended to be replaced or installed by the consumer, to be included directly on the product in a manner that is visible to the consumer upon access to the battery compartment, except that if impracticable to label the product, this information shall be placed on the packaging or instructions.
Warning Label	(1) Clearly identify the hazard of ingestion; and (2) Instruct consumers, as practicable, to keep new and used batteries out of the reach of children, to seek immediate medical attention if a battery is ingested, and to follow any other consensus medical advice.