"Child Resistant" hearing aid batteries — issues?

Hey that is really COOL!!! I have flush-level wire cutters I use for jewelry making. Great idea to use them to snip off the welds.

I have been using this method.

Burning even a tiny piece of plastic is dangerous because it releases highly toxic chemicals, carcinogens like dioxins, heavy metals, and fine particulate matter

Yes, we can still buy the original packaging here at wholesale. Other packaging on lithium Cr2032 has moved to the impossi-packs, but it’s not happened for zinc-oxide yet.

That said, we’re barely buying any batteries anymore. Just some #10 now and again for CIC users.

I’ve finally reached the point that I had to buy new batteries. The batteries I use are 675 Power One Implant Batteries.

I was sad to see the revolving dispenser had been replaced with a fixed plastic shield that now had a rigid back that could not be penetrated without the use of tools. If I carried one of those multifunction Leatherman tools, it would be no big deal. But, I don’t.

My first attempt was with scissors. Unfortunately, the scissors I had weren’t strong enough.

My second attempt was with side cutters. The side cutters made short work of the hard plastic and in short order I had one battery in my hand. But, wait, there is another barrier around the battery. Sort of a soft plastic force field. Was this to help a kid survive swallowing a battery? If a kid got to this point, there certainly isn’t anything to stop them from swallowing this encapsulated battery.

If you follow Rule #9, and always carry a knife, then you could dump a bunch of these batteries into a small container and keep them with you. The plastic capsule would protect them from shorting out and self draining until you cut the capsule off with your knife. Or, you could remove the plastic capsule and transfer the batteries to a battery holder designed to hold the battery size you have. Then you could take them with you ready to use.

But, you are now back to the point the law was designed to prevent. A flawed law, but the law nonetheless.

Why do I say the law is flawed? Because it doesn’t keep the batteries out of the kids hands. It only placates the parents Reese Hamsmith of the unfortunate girl the law is named after, and makes the lawmakers feel good about themselves. The law mandates that the cases that button batteries are sold in, must resist being opened by a child under six. It also mandates that the battery compartments in the products that use batteries are to pass a specific criteria to resist opening by a child under six. For end users such as us, only warnings on labels and in the product manuals will prevent us from allowing a child access to a button battery.

When I’m not wearing my hearing aid, it is sitting in its plastic case. If we had a toddler in the house, that case would be put away where a toddler could not get to it, just like the cleaning fluids, insecticides, fine China collections, and firearms. But in a careless household the hearing aid is probably sitting on grandpa’s end table, with the battery door open. A curious kid would pick up the hearing aid and shortly afterward, he would have the battery in hand.

Or what about the run down batteries? I’m sure we all take those to the store for proper disposal. None of us would ever just throw it in the trash, right? In the meantime we have to store those batteries somewhere safe. Kids always seem to find that safe place don’t they?

According to the NIH, they don’t know how many die each year from button battery ingestion. They say it’s at least 583 but more likely around 2500 worldwide. They can’t give exact numbers because of poor reporting of the deaths, and improper tracking of the reported deaths.

NIH Article on Button Battery Fatalities

Is the law worth the trouble and aggravation it is causing? Not to mention the cost it has cost to retool the equipment that makes the packaging and inserts the batteries into that package.

An UPDATE:

The CPSC is taking public comments for the next NINE DAYS regarding mandates for Reese’s law.

Use this link to add your comment about the mandates including hearing aid batteries for the CPSC to consider.

It will close on 09/17/2026

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/03/2026-18103/notice-of-availability-and-request-for-comment-revision-to-the-voluntary-standard-for-products1