I used to work with lithium batteries daily, as the company I worked
for at the time used them in bulk for products. Used to ship them off
for hazardous waste disposal as well. Standard lithium batteries are
explosive when shorted out. A half size AA will take your fingers off
if it were to explode in your hand. Though you'd have to really be
numb in the hand and brain to stand there and hold it while it heated
up. We had a group of 4 of them explode on the factory floor when an
employee broke the rules and stuck some in a radio to replace their AA
alkaline batteries. Quite a few employees went to the hospital that
day to have their hearing checked for damage. The radio was splayed
open like a tin can after a cherry bomb. When we shipped out bulk
groups of lithium batteries for hazardous waste disposal, the 55
gallon steel drum was as thick as armor plating as they were
considered dangerous. The lid on the drum was the explosive release
vertically, and the drums were strapped to the pallet so they would
not tip. Even those types of batteries have become much better
engineered over the years and are not quite so dangerous now, even
though they can still cause harm and damage when shorted. There is
reason for the T.S.A. to mark lithium batteries as hazardous, but
most of the current smart charge Li-ion batteries have protective
circuitry and are not a problem. The current line of consumer
batteries also have recessed contacts for the same reasons.
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