Adam Kos The Australian Regulatory Authority has urged all parents to keep their AirTags out of the reach of children for safety reasons. Therefore, the local chain also withdrew AirTags from sale. Although this accessory is also designed for use by children, the problem is the easy replacement of their battery. Even if the case is taking place in distant adversaries, of course the problem concerns the whole world.
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Serious injury and death
AirTags are powered by a CR2032 coin cell battery, i.e. a common lithium battery used in e.g. watches and many other small devices. But in Australia, 20 children a week are taken to the emergency room after swallowing it. In the last eight years, three of these children have died and 44 of them have been seriously injured.
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The most dangerous scenario is that the battery gets stuck in the child's throat and then leaks out, causing the lithium in the tissue to burn. This can cause not only catastrophic bleeding, but within hours of swallowing a battery, it can cause very serious injury or even death. In order to protect children from swallowing small parts, especially medicines, and even batteries, international safety standards require that the so-called "push and twist" mechanism be used on containers and packaging containing them.
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Although the AirTag contains this mechanism, only a very small amount of force needs to be exerted to press it, which raises serious concerns about the safety of children. In connection with this, it can quite easily happen that an adult user closes the cap insufficiently, which again leads to a possible "accident".
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Benjamin Levicek Apple's response
In light of this finding, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a warning warning of the risk that the battery compartment could be open even though owners think it isn't: “The ACCC urges parents to ensure that Apple AirTags are kept out of the reach of small children. We are also in contact with our international counterparts regarding the safety of Apple AirTags, and at least one overseas public safety regulator is also investigating the safety of this product at this stage.”
In connection with this, Apple has already reacted and added a warning label informing about the danger on the AirTag packaging. However, according to the ACCC, this does not reduce concerns. The safety of children should not be taken lightly, so you should also try to avoid the possibility of children coming into contact with the battery contained in the AirTag.
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Vratislav Holub 