AirTags: Apple warns against swallowable batteries
The button cells installed in the trackers can be put in the mouth by children and thus get into the throat or stomach. After a warning, Apple issues a warning.
AirTags: The integrated batteries can be swallowed by children – a problem with all button cells.
(Image: tre / Mac&i)
Apple has printed new warnings on its AirTags Bluetooth and Ultra Wideband trackers following a notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSC, an independent agency of the US government, had previously warned that the company did not adequately warn parents and others about the risk of swallowing the integrated batteries (CR2032 button cell with lithium).
Internal chemical burns after two hours
The CPSC had sent a "Notice of Violation" to the iPhone company based on a new law, Reese's Law. According to Reese's Law, devices with button cells must have explicit "on-product" and "on-box" warnings (i.e. on the product and on the packaging) if they are imported into the USA after March 19, 2024.
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The label states, among other things, that "death and serious injury" can occur after ingestion – including "internal chemical burns within just two hours". Therefore, the batteries should be kept out of the reach of children and a doctor should be consulted immediately if they are swallowed – or introduced "into any other part of the body".
Warning also in the "Where is?" app
Following the breach notice, Apple has now responded by printing the warning both on the AirTag cases in the USA and in the battery compartment. As devices were sold without the label in the period after Reese's Law came into force, the company has also adapted its "Where is?" app accordingly and has now published a warning there. However, as of today, it is not displayed within the EU. It remains unclear whether this will happen later, as the US laws appear to be stricter here.
In the past, there have been repeated ingestion problems with AirTags and their batteries – not only with children, but also with pets. To make matters worse, Apple explicitly prohibits CR2032 models with a protective coating that makes the batteries "taste" bitter. The company even warns against this childproof variant in a support document. "Some CR2032 batteries with a bitter coating may not work with AirTag or other battery-powered products," it says.
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