TikTok creator uses a slice of ham to show what swallowing a battery can do to body tissue

What would happen to your body if you swallow a battery?

A doctor on TikTok explains it all.

Dr Anthony Youn, who goes by @tonyyounmd on the platform, posted a video that shows just how much damage the power unit can do when ingested.

At the beginning of the video, titled (appropriately) “Why You Shouldn’t Swallow a Battery!”, Dr Youn place a tiny battery coin on a slice of ham and then pours water on top.

The ham is supposed to represent the esophagus, and the water represents saliva.

“Why You Shouldn’t Swallow a Battery!”Photo courtesy of @tonyyounmd/TikTok

Dr Youn then shows what the battery inside the ham looks like when two hours have passed— and it’s a troubling sight.

What the battery looks like after three hoursPhoto courtesy of @tonyyounmd/TikTok

Once it reached the three-hour mark, Dr Youn shows that the battery acid has almost bore a hole through the ham.

What the battery looks like after three hoursPhoto courtesy of @tonyyounmd/TikTok

Some of the top comments were attemps at humour: “Dang I was just about to go eat a yummy battery,” wrote one commenter.

“Bro I was just about to eat them for lunch,” another joked.

Others shared their stories about the times they consumed batteries in their childhoods.

“I swallowed a battery when I was eight never told anyone. Pretty sure I never pooped it out either I’m 19 now,” a commenter wrote.

But Dr Youn wrote: “I know I joke a lot here, but this isn’t a joke. Make sure to keep batteries away from children and pets. Can be so dangerous!”

Button battery ingestion is a risk for children because they are small and can get caught in the throat. The Center for Disease Control states that button batteries are the most harmful to young children.

When the battery gets stuck in the throat, it causes an electric current that can leak toxic chemicals such as alkaline electrolyte. It can lead to internal damage that can cause burns within hours.  Even if the battery is removed from the body, the damage can be irreversible.

One of the best ways to prevent this from happening to a child is to keep batteries locked away. And if the child is playing with a battery-operated device, monitor them.

An average of 3,500 button batteries are swallowed a year.

Check out Dr Anthony Youn’s video here.