Worldwide, especially in recent years, there has been an increasing number of accidents involving contact with the end of charging cables – serious accidents and even fatalities among small children are NOT isolated incidents.
…and each of these cases is already one TOO MANY!
Chargers for smartphones, tablets, and similar devices are low-voltage devices. However, because the market is increasingly flooded with low-quality power supplies and chargers, which is often difficult for end users to detect due to counterfeit seals, markings, and type plates, this can even be life-threatening.
Ina S. describes how dangerous it can be in Germany too: "At our house, a charging cable got so hot after being successfully salivated on that it fused with the carpet." Various sources describe incidents involving injuries and burns to the skin, especially with mobile phone charging cables, even in Germany.
And we mustn't turn a blind eye to the more serious cases either – because there are now more than one publicly known case worldwide where a low-voltage charging cable has become a deadly hazard. The number of unreported cases must be assumed. Here are the most well-known incidents of recent years:
- 2017: 19-month-old girl suffers severe burns in her mouth after putting the charging cable in her mouth
- Deaths of children around 2 years old because the charging contact of chargers plugged into the wall socket was put in the mouth (smartphone chargers), two known cases in Brazil and India
It is not without reason that, for example , over 200 children are reported to the emergency room in the USA every year due to electrical injuries caused by USB chargers.
It's a reality in many households that charging isn't always possible out of reach of children, and that the charging cable is often forgotten. For this reason, the electrical charging contact should definitely be protected. This is achieved with a so-called charging cable fuse, an automatic shield for the electrical charging plug.
Note : The risk of strangulation with long cables should not be forgotten. In infants and children up to 14 years old, approximately one-quarter of all choking accidents in recent years have been attributed to strangulation. Therefore, it is recommended to use short charging cables or to wind cables securely.
Sources for further reading:
Federal Statistical Office - Statistics "Accidents, violence, self-harm "