Safety standards for lithium-ion batteries need to be modernized following a massive recall of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd phones after faulty batteries caused fires, a U.S. government agency said on Tuesday.
“Consumers should never have to worry that a battery-powered device might put them, their family or their property at risk,” Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Elliot Kaye said in a statement.
The agency reached agreement with Samsung to recall 2.5 million Note 7 phones in early September. While most recalls have a “dangerously low” consumer response rate, 97 percent of Samsung’s Note 7 phones have been returned, Kaye said.
The U.S. consumer-safety regulator and Samsung are working with the industry to update the voluntary standard for lithium-ion batteries in smartphones, the commission said.
“At a minimum, industry needs to learn from this experience and improve consumer safety by putting more safeguards in place during the design and manufacturing stages to ensure that technologies run by lithium-ion batteries deliver their benefits without the serious safety risks,” Kaye said.
(Reporting by Komal Khettry in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Topics USA
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
How Insurers Know When It’s Time to Scale AI 
Ship Insurers Set for Major Claims From Iran War, Allianz Says 
IMA Latest to Sue Howden Over Alleged Employee Poaching 
Florida’s Unemployment Rate Is Surging Even as High-Profile Companies Move In 
