Dell Issues Largest Electronics Recall After Fire Fears

JIM LEHRER:

Now, Jeffrey Brown examines those dangerous laptop computer batteries.

JEFFREY BROWN:

From the world's largest computer maker comes the biggest recall in computer history. Dell announced last night that it would recall more than four million batteries for laptop computers after the company documented several cases in which computers burst into flames.

There have been no injuries or deaths so far, but the problem has been linked to lithium ion batteries made by a division of Sony. The overheating batteries have been a concern for several years, and recent cases have raised new worries about their potential danger, including on airlines.

For more, we're joined by the acting chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Nancy Nord. Her agency worked with Dell on the recall.

Welcome to you.

NANCY NORD, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Thank you.

JEFFREY BROWN:

First describe these batteries for us. What are they, and how are they used?

NANCY NORD:

Well, these are lithium ion batteries that are found in Dell notebook computers. They are basically the state-of-the-art batteries at this point. And these are chargeable batteries, rechargeable batteries, and they pack an awful lot of power into a very, very small package. They give consumers a great deal of functionality, as far as the use of the product is concerned, but unfortunately in this case we found some problems.

JEFFREY BROWN:

Well, tell us exactly what the problem is. What makes them ignite?

NANCY NORD:

The problem in this case deals with quality control in the manufacture of the battery. As best we can tell, a contaminant got into the cell and, when the battery is vigorously jostled or compressed, that contaminant can cause a short.

JEFFREY BROWN:

So not a design problem?

NANCY NORD:

Not a design problem.

JEFFREY BROWN:

A manufacturing problem?

NANCY NORD:

This was a quality control problem.