I think the main concern about lithium button batteries is fire hazard. If they are totally discharged, I am thinking there is not much fire or chemical hazard. But I suppose they must be assumed to be charged. Looks like the new laws on lithium battery shipping may be impacting button battery disposal. I see some towns now asking for individually packaged waste button batteries.
ours won't accept them, except on hazardous waste day. but they're not going to check each one to see if there's any charge left. also, there's a radio commercial calling them hazardous waste. i have no idea.
....cut-away of a Lithium CR-2032 button batt...on the surface I see no environmentally hazardous chemicals per se.
I'm getting on 3 month's on my batteries. But I wonder if the keys on my ring are pushing the buttons down or if I'm just buying old batteries.
If it sits within the fringes of SKS detection range, it will be continually talking with the car and draining its battery faster. Stored well out of range (and usually in a pants pocket, where it sometimes 'butt-dials' the buttons), mine lasted a bit over three years. In California, all batteries are 'environmentally hazardous' by legislative fiat, even the modern cleaned-up alkalines.
Maybe a shoe with a hollow heel? Worked for Maxwell Smart (kind of, sort of). Beware Chinese counterfeit batteries. I strongly suspect after reading all the comments about the odd packing flaws, lack of packaging, and lack of specific expiration dates, that many of the "brand name" button batteries sold on Amazon are counterfeit. Reviews suggest that the counterfeit batteries will function but have a shorter life span.
I can put in a good word for the Energizer CR2032. I just made a "throwie" with one and it lasted about 2-weeks lighting up a white LED continously. That's about as good as it gets. Sort of amazing how much total light over 2-weeks you can get out of one button batt and one LED. I see it went from 3.1 Volts down to 2.6 Volts, so it still has some juice. Maybe I switch now to a red LED and get another week,
