A mother says her baby’s cup exploded … and claims the lithium-ion batteries which power the cup’s lights are to blame.

Dzevada Beciro’s story has been featured in the US media after she says her son’s feeder cup exploded while she was pouring milk into it.

The strange case follows countless incidents where batteries have sparked fires in a range of personal electronic devices from mobile phones to laptops … and even a pair of headphones.

Dzevada, who went to hospital to be treated for chemical exposure in her lungs and face, told KBOI News: "Kids want stuff that lights up and has pretty colours. You expect them to be safe."

Dzevada, who lives in the capital city of Idaho, Boise, added: "If it had been in my son's hands I really don't even want to imagine what could have happened.”

The cup’s manufacturers are investigating the incident.

Explosions in lithium-ion batteries happen when they go into what’s known as thermal runaway.

This happens when one cell in a battery overheats it can produce enough heat – up to 900°C (1652°F) – to cause adjacent cells to overheat too.

When this happens in a passenger’s personal electronic device in the confined space of an aircraft it can cause serious problems.

One way to tackle such incidents on planes is to use an AvSax fire containment bag which can deal with fires in personal electronic devices and are now carried on aircraft operated by 65 airline companies across the world – including some of the biggest and best-known.

AvSax  – which won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2018 - has been used 28 times to deal with emergencies since the start of 2017.

More than 13,000 AvSax are now carried on aircraft worldwide. Deployment is so effective that extremely expensive diversions to alternate airports are avoided. 

* Written by Andy Hirst at AH! PR http://www.ah-pr.com/