Angry in the Great White North

The Toronto Star has an alarming report on the assault on Canada by dangerous Chinese counterfeit goods. The casualties are often the most vulnerable, children, while those who profit are those who are untouchable because of gaping holes in Canadian law. The weapon this time? Counterfeit batteries:

RCMP Superintendent Ken Hansen gave his boss a pack of batteries last summer as an example of Chinese counterfeit merchandise arriving at Canadian ports. They made quite an impression months later – when they exploded.

The batteries, disguised as a Western brand, lacked a near-invisible vent that allows pressure to escape. In 2006, when RCMP officials seized more than four tons of fake, dangerous batteries, Health Canada issued a warning: since 2000, they have received 86 complaints of overheating or leaky batteries and eight children suffered burns.

For those who wonder about such things, an alkaline battery becomes less alkaline as it is drained, as a result of the buildup of hydrogen gas that is the by-product of the chemical process that creates the current. Below 0.7V, the buildup can reach a point at which the battery casing will rupture. The vent prevents that, but if the vent is activated, the battery still leaks electrolye (incorrectly labelled an "exploded" battery by consumers). The reason we don't see this venting and subsequent leaking all that often in legitimate batteries is that long before reaching that 0.7V threshold, the battery will fail to drive most devices, and it will be removed and replaced. The first problem with these counterfeits is that they drain far too quickly (a reflection of the overall poor quality of the product). That means the pressure is building up faster than you would expect, before you might notice that it is time to replace the battery. Of course, without the vent, the result is an uncontrolled rupture of the entire casing along its length, ruining the device in which the battery is installed, and exposing the consumer to the full amount of highly caustic potassium hydroxide fluid that acts as the electrolye and that makes a battery work.

A ruptured battery is bad enough, but these counterfeits often use mercury in their formulations.

The warning from Health Canada on the issue of counterfeit batteries is sobering:

Since January 2000, Health Canada has received 86 reports of batteries that have exploded, leaked, or overheated. 41 have been in toys or products used by children. Eight children have received burns. Many of these incidents may have involved counterfeits. These batteries present a higher risk of malfunction, mainly because they are not constructed with adequate vent holes, a safety feature that allows a means to release excess pressure. In addition, counterfeit batteries often contain mercury, a heavy metal that can damage the central nervous system when ingested and can harm the environment when the batteries are discarded.

So how can you tell if your battery is good? Unfortunately, it's not easy. Tear off the labelling, and the battery is a featureless tin-like cylinder (actually nickel-plated steel). The "vent holes" are not easily visible, but more on that in a moment. We are forced to be on the lookout for suspicious packaging, suspicious merchants, and suspicious prices.

Not much to go on, really.

And because of that, eight Canadian children have been injured to date. Well, eight that we know of.

I wanted to know more about this venting and what possible differences in battery designs, so I visited the Duracell website and got this cross-section of their battery construction.

This is a close-up of the relevant section at the negative end of the cell:

Inside the cell, hydrogen gas builds up in the main cavity of the battery, above the plastic grommet. Once it reaches a certain pressure, the "membrane vent" built into the plastic grommet opens, and the hydrogen gas can flow into a gap under the plastic grommet. Of course, this doesn't work if there is no where for the gas to go from there. The hydrogen gas needs to reach the outside.

What happens next (I think) is that the hydrogen gas migrates along the insulation layer (essentially thin paper that maintains the electrical isolation of the negative plate from the casing) and then outside. If you strip a battery of the plastic wrapping, the gap between the negative plate and the casing is quite visible at the bottom of the battery, as is the thin edge of the paper insulator inside the gap. In any case, once the internal membrane vent is opened, the electrolyte (the liquid in which the cathode and anode are immersed) can reach the outside using the same path as the hydrogen gas. The paper only insulates against the movement of electrons, and not against the flow of hydrogen gas or a liquid electrolyte. In an alkaline battery, that electrolye is the highly caustic potassium hydroxide.

Of course, in this situation, this is a slow leak, and not a splatter of potassium hydroxide as a result of an explosive outgassing.

But then there is the plastic wrapping. If it seals the gap from the outside, then it defeats the purpose of the vents built into the grommet. I studied several batteries and I think I have been able to spot what might be tiny holes in the plastic wrapping aligned along the circumference of the insulated gap.

Are these the nearly invisible venting holes missing in counterfeit batteries? Quite possibly. Making near-microscopic holes and then aligning them over the thin gap is probably not cheap, both in the cost of materials (the plastic wrap) and in the assembly (wrapping the batteries with such tight tolerances). Just slapping a simple label with no holes on a battery is quick and easy.

But another interesting possibility is that counterfeit batteries are being made with cheaply made grommets. A single solid plastic disc without the membrane vent would certainly be cheaper than the more elaborate mechanism used in the Duracell design. And without those vents leading to the space above the insulator and ultimately to the outside, the hydrogen gas would build up in the main cavity until there was a catastrophic failure of the battery casing and the subsequent injury that could result from the exposed potassium hydroxide.

I would like to know what Health Canada did to analyze the fake batteries, and what they found. Did they look inside? I bet they did. I'd be willing to bet there was no internal vent in at least some of the knockoffs, making the question of external vent holes moot, and the likelihood of an explosion a near certainty.

In the mean time, we're back to the bad labelling, the low-end store, and the too-good-to-be-true pricing. The agencies of the government are not going to do anything to protect us. They want to, they just can't:

The Canada Border Services Agency has, knowingly, let container loads of counterfeit batteries into the country, along with myriad other phony goods, some of which are dangerous. They have neither the budget nor the mandate to stop the deluge of fake products. They search less than three per cent of incoming shipments.

It is not illegal under Canada's Customs Act to import counterfeit goods. Border officials do not actively search for them, and will only alert RCMP officials if counterfeits are found during searches for other illegal imports.

Carol Osmond, a lawyer and vice-chair of the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network, said Canada's border agency lacks a clear legislative mandate to seize counterfeit goods. "There's a recognition even within CBSA that there needs to be change," Osmond said.

Unless Health Canada or the RCMP say counterfeits pose major risks to Canadians, border officials usually let them through.

A parliamentary committee reported on June 20 to the House of Commons on how Canada could improve its dismal performance at the border. Among the committee's recommendations: government should make the importation and distribution of counterfeits a criminal offence; parliament should provide the CBSA with a clear mandate to target counterfeits; and that Health Canada needs more resources to investigate unsafe food and drug imports.

James Rajotte, the Conservative MP who chaired the committee, said it's not just about intellectual property rights, but about health and safety. "CBSA is doing the best job that they can, but they need to have the mandate to target counterfeits," Rajotte told the Star.

Stockwell Day, minister of public safety, told the Star by email that the government "will review the committee's recommendations very carefully and report back to Parliament in a timely manner."

Time is money. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association tallied up the ongoing cost of the millions of fake batteries imported into the United States:

Counterfeit battery products harm the brand reputation of the battery manufactures and the battery category in general. According to U.S. Customs seizure statistics for 2001, nearly four million dollars worth of counterfeit batteries exported from China were seized and the problem appears to be getting worse. Recent retail market sampling, conducted by the battery industry, suggested annual estimated sales losses of $12 million in U.S. sales, $4 million in South American sales and $7 million in European sales. U.S. companies, which have succeeded in attaining brand recognition and a loyal consumer base, are losing millions of dollars of business. Counterfeiters are profiting from the extensive marketing efforts of U.S. battery manufacturers who have invested millions of dollars in the design and performance of their products and who have developed a demand for reliable battery products that meet performance standards and government regulations. Consumers are being disappointed by poor performing counterfeits, or sometimes seriously injured due to unsafe products.

Sudden unexpected losses in market share and increases in the number of product-related complaints and misdirected lawsuits are problematic issues being dealt with due to counterfeit products. The increase and magnitude of the problem is costing U.S. manufacturing jobs. Counterfeit products take sales and profits from U.S. manufacturers. Product related complaints cause a burden on U.S. manufacturers and retailers who are forced to deal with those issues. When one considers that batteries are typically used in a variety of electronic products and games, the impact of a counterfeit battery product is far reaching. In a survey conducted by the IACC (International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition), Fortune 500 companies reported spending on average between $2-4 million per year just to combat counterfeiting. At a time when manufacturers and retailers are struggling to stay competitive, these burdensome costs translate into reduced revenue and job losses.

I'm certain the problem has grown in size since 2001.

Besides the direct losses from the sales of counterfeit batteries, consumers are forced to replace electrical equipment damaged by the use of counterfeit batteries. That's wasted money and more garbage going to landfills.

And then there are the injured children.

Let's hope we see legislation come forth in the next session of parliament that makes what these counterfeiters do an actual crime in Canada.