- Some light-up skirts sold on Amazon.com or Walmart.com have button batteries that aren't meeting safety standards to protect children, a government safety regulator warns.
- Button batteries, which are small, round and commonly made from lithium, have recently come under stricter safety rules because thousands of children are swallowing them every year, risking internal chemical burns and even death.
- The companies selling the light-up skirts have refused a recall despite being in violation of a button battery safety law.
Two different sellers on Walmart.com or Amazon.com have sold light-up skirts with deadly button batteries that can be easily swallowed by children, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.
Both the yellow Kids Light Up Ballet Skirts and pink Sizhinai LED Tutu Skirts have button batteries attached to a string of LED lights that children can easily access, the CPSC said. There are also no safety warnings.
Images of Sizhinai LED Tutu Skirts and Kids Light Up Ballet Skirts (left to right) via CPSC.
The CPSC said parents should stop letting their children wear the skirts and throw them away, but follow local waste rules to dispose of the hazardous batteries.
The Kids Light Up Ballet Skirts were sold online for around $6 on Walmart.com from April 2024 through Feb. 2025, while the the Sizhinai LED Tutu Skirts sold for around $25 on Amazon.com from Nov. 2019 through April 2025, the CPSC said.
The CPSC said both China-based companies, Happy Cart Emporium and Hongkong Tianyu Electronic Commerce, have refused an "acceptable recall," which is why the agency issued a warning.
In Sept. 2024, the CPSC's rule on safety standards for button batteries went into effect following Congress's passage in 2022 of Reese's Law directing the agency to regulate the batteries to protect young children.
Why are button batteries dangerous to children?
Button batteries can burn through flesh and, if swallowed, can cause serious internal chemical burns and even death.
They are also small and shiny, making them appealing to children who swallow them and leading to thousands of emergency-room visits a year.
The problem has gotten worse: There were around 70,300 children visiting emergency rooms because of batteries between 2010 and 2019, more than double than the decade before, according to a study by the American Academy of Pediatricts.
Every 1.25 hours, there was a battery-related emergency room visit between 2010 and 2019, The New York Times reported.
Button batteries were involved in nearly 85% of the battery-related emergency room visits and ingestions accounted for 90%, the study said.