Around the world a number of media reports have claimed mobile phones have exploded and injured people. The media have also reported that chargers have caused a fire or may have electrocuted people.

In Australia there have been no confirmed cases of injury from a mobile phone battery exploding and fire authorities have no records of any fires caused by mobile phone chargers.

There are also a number of alleged incidents circulated via email warning which include well meaning but misguided advice. These are known urban myths.

Battery Safety

Counterfeit phone batteries are a serious problem for the mobile industry. Recent media reports allege that two people in Vietnam have been burned from separate mobile phone battery explosions within days of each other. A man was playing billiards when he felt heat in his pocket where his mobile was heating up. He found the mobile phone battery smouldering.

A woman in Ho Chi Minh City was earlier injured when her mobile exploded at breakfast. She was hospitalised with burns. A counterfeit battery was thought to be the fault. The incidents in Vietnam follow two similar accidents in the Netherlands. In all of these incidents the batteries were counterfeit.

All counterfeit and some third party manufactured batteries do not meet all of the safety requirements that are necessary to ensure consumer safety.

The conference included illustrations on how consumers can recognize the most obvious examples of counterfeit batteries. These examples are available on the Nokia website.

Charger Safety

Mobile phone chargers are proclaimed under all State legislation and are required to be approved by the relevant regulators in each state.

To gain approval, each model of charger is tested and required to meet an Australian safety standard which is equivalent to a corresponding international standard.

The tests evaluate the capacity of the charger to maintain suitable temperatures when the mobile phone is removed and the charger is left on.

However, as with any electrical product, it is always advisable to disconnect chargers when they are not in use. This will reduce the possibility of failure and it will also reduce the electricity bill because you are not paying for standby power consumption.