Do carbon zinc batteries contain acid?

[ericmark]

This BBC report states

"Their customers deserve better than to be sold sub-standard batteries which were leaking zinc and acid and putting people - especially young children - at risk of very serious harm."

I thought Ammonium Chloride and Zinc Chloride were both alkaline as PH is over 7 i.e. 9.24.

Seems I am wrong? Is Zinc Chloride an acid, I always called it killed acid or Bakers Fluid used it to solder with. Although made with acid I thought it was neutral with a PH around 7?

I have cleaned spills with tartaric acid thinking it was alkaline. May be need to change to using bicarbonate of soda. Or just forget the idea mix the tartaric acid and bicarbonate of soda together and add it to the sugar bowl!

 

[JohnW2]

I thought Ammonium Chloride and Zinc Chloride were both alkaline as PH is over 7 i.e. 9.24.

No - both of them are markedly acidic (i.e. pH <7) in aqueous solution.

Edit: I've just consulted Mr Wikipedia. He says that the pH of a 6M aqueous solution of zinc chloride is about 1, and that the pH of a "5%" aqueous solution of ammonium chloride is 4-6.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ericmark]

It was a bit tongue in cheek. I really can't see how a leaking battery really causes much danger. I think it was good that Poundstretcher is taught a lesson, but in real terms it is equipment which will be damaged not personnel. OK babies do suck batteries we found ours touching the contacts of a 9 volt battery on her tongue on contacts, but really speaking 30 odd years ago when she was a child we should not have been letting her play with batteries.

If you buy batteries from cheap shops and markets you expect they may leak.

"It frankly beggars belief that even after we ordered the firm to stop selling the batteries because we believed they were a danger to the public, the company continued to sell them online - many at 99p for a pack of 20."

What danger? Batteries have leaked for years, and we simply dispose of them, what I don't do is put a leaking battery in my pocket to take to the disposal point in the local shops. If leaking then in the bin it goes, only not leaking are recycled. So leaking batteries will result in zinc contamination with land fill sites. Cure is for council to collect items like light bulbs, batteries, pesticides and herbicides separately. It is crazy to ask a house holder to travel to local skip site to get rid of odd bulb, battery, or electronic equipment. Fridge, washing machine yes, but an AA battery they need to use some common sense.

It may cause damage to goods, damage to environment, and annoyance when you find batteries don't work. But hardly causes a danger.

 

[JohnW2]

It was a bit tongue in cheek. I really can't see how a leaking battery really causes much danger.

Not a zinc/carbon/manganese one, no - but some types of battery obviously pose much more real hazards.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It is crazy to ask a house holder to travel to local skip site to get rid of odd bulb, battery, or electronic equipment. Fridge, washing machine yes, but an AA battery they need to use some common sense.

Plan B common sense:

People wake up to the fact that there is no "away", and put in place a system which allows them to save up dead batteries and fluorescent lamps etc until a trip to the recycling centre is worthwhile. Most people live within reasonable distance of one. Most people have neighbours and could cooperate on a rota/sharing scheme. And re batteries, most supermarkets have bins for them.

 

[Taylortwocities]

It is crazy to ask a house holder to travel to local skip site to get rid of odd bulb, battery, or electronic equipment. Fridge, washing machine yes, but an AA battery they need to use some common sense.

You need to move to a more civilised part of the UK.
The council here collect batteries at the kerbside as part of the recyling waste collection. I just pop them in a bag and leave on top of the bin. They also have now started collecting smaller electronic items on the same basis.

 

[Jackrae]

As far as children and batteries are concerned I believe the real danger comes from button cells. These can easily be swallowed and once inside the body the intestinal fluids act as a conductive electrolyte which causes a discharge current to flow. This current then destroys the intestinal wall with serious consequences. See http://www.rospa.com/home-safety/advice/product/button-cell-batteries/

 

[stillp]

I'm led to believe that it is quite common for toddlers to arrive at A & E with a button cell stuck in a nostril.
These are of course recorded as electrical accidents.

 

[Jackrae]

Stuck there for long enough the "snot" current will cause damage

 

[JohnW2]

These are of course recorded as electrical accidents.

What else could they be?

Kind Regards, John

 

[Jackrae]

No more an "electrical" accident than choking on a lump of sugar could be termed an "agricultural" accident
Simple classification tends to distort statistic reality

Was it Disraeli who said "there are lies, damned lies and statistics"

 

[JohnW2]

No more an "electrical" accident than choking on a lump of sugar could be termed an "agricultural" accident

Quite so.

Simple classification tends to distort statistic reality

"Simple" and "Silly" are not the same thing.

Was it Disraeli who said "there are lies, damned lies and statistics"

According to Mark Twain, it was, but I'm not sure that has ever been verified! The reality is that the problem is often not so much the 'statistics' as the data from which they are derived.

Kind Regards, John