How do I check button batteries and magnets on toys at a car boot stall?

Why do button batteries and magnets matter at a car boot?

A stall in a field is the opposite of a shop aisle. The box is often gone, the age mark has faded, and you cannot tell whether the toy was built for a baby or an older child. Which? tested marketplace toys and found more than 40% of a 28-toy sample failed standard tests; two of those toys had swallowable magnets or a battery compartment that opened too easily.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) records that a lodged coin or button battery can react with saliva to make a strong alkali and burn tissue. Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) says even a 'dead' battery can still do this. The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) states that swallowed high-powered magnets can stick together through the gut and cut off blood supply.

If you think a child has swallowed a button battery or magnets, GOSH and CAPT both say go to A&E now. Do not wait for symptoms. GOSH says do not give food or drink and do not try to make the child sick.

How do I check a battery compartment in the aisle?

Business Companion, the Trading Standards guidance site, says a product that ships with batteries should keep the cell behind a cover that needs a tool (screwdriver or coin) or two independent movements applied at the same time. Which? uses the same two-action test. A cover that flips off with a fingernail fails that check on the stall.

1. 1
   Photograph first Take a clear photo of the whole toy, any remaining age mark, and the battery door before you handle it. You may need the picture later for a GOV.UK recall search.
2. 2
   Look for a screw or a two-action catch A single Phillips or coin slot is the usual tool lock. A two-action catch needs you to hold one part down while you slide another. If the door lifts, slides or pops with one finger, leave the toy.
3. 3
   Check the screw is still there A hole with no screw is a missing fastener, not a pass. Captive screws that stay in the lid are what newer specifications describe; a missing screw is common on well-loved toys.
4. 4
   Do not prize it open to 'just look' If the cover is already loose, assume a child can finish the job. Put the toy down. Do not demonstrate how easy it is with a toddler watching.

Talking toys, light-up keys, cheap tablets and remote-style gadgets are the usual button-cell hiding places. GOSH lists electronic toys, greetings cards, thermometers and key fobs as everyday sources — the same items turn up loose in a toy crate.

How do I check magnets and small parts?

Which? found magnetic building blocks that broke in a standard impact test and spilled magnets almost four times stronger than the British test limit. CAPT warns that cheap copycat magnetic toys, often sold online, may not meet UK strength limits. At a boot you cannot run a laboratory test. You can still refuse a toy that is already coming apart.

Flex each tile or block gently. Listen for a rattle. Look at seams and corners. If stuffing, a magnet or a small part is already showing, RoSPA's line on tired toys is to skip them — put a wrecked toy in a skip rather than a sale if you are the seller.

What do the marks and a blank recall search mean?

RoSPA tells buyers to look for a CE or UKCA mark on toys. That mark is the manufacturer's declaration that the toy meets the rules it claims to meet. Which? has seen marks on toys that then failed BS EN 71 and electric-toy tests, and it treats a cheap feel plus missing instructions as a reason to doubt a mark. A stamp in a muddy crate is not a test report.

• Search the brand and model, if you can read one, on the GOV.UK Product Safety Alerts, Reports and Recalls list.
• No listing means no recall on file. It does not mean the unit in your hand has been checked.
• OPSS business guidance on button and coin batteries points producers at PAS 7055 and at toy-specific standards. That is a manufacturing brief, not a car-boot MOT.

In shortIn short: tool or two-action battery door; magnets still sealed; a photo for a recall search later. Fail any of those and leave the toy. A mark or a blank official list is one gate, not a pass.

What should I do if I think a child has swallowed one?

1. Go to A&E, or call 999 if the child is very unwell. CAPT's magnet advice is not to wait for tummy pain or vomiting.
2. Tell the hospital it may be a button battery or magnets. Which? notes that an MRI is the wrong scan if magnets may be inside the body.
3. GOSH says do not give anything to eat or drink and do not try to make the child sick.
4. Bring the toy or a matching spare cell if you can find one without delaying the trip.

This page is an inspection process for a stall. It is not first-aid training. Follow the hospital team.