Laura Whitaker, a College of Communications sophomore, has experienced many problems with cell phones.

Her old one was dropped in a pool, and her new one frequently cuts out on conversations. However, the problems pale in comparison to one that 83 Americans have experienced.

Over the past two years, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported 83 incidents of cell phones either catching fire or exploding.

Ken Giles, spokesman for the commission, said recalls have been issued for the batteries connected with the explosions and the organization is still investigating. He said counterfeit batteries are one reason for the explosions.

"Counterfeit batteries simply do not have the safety features that authentic brands would have," Giles said. Safety features on standard batteries include devices to prevent overheating and overcharging, he said.

One of the recalls the commission issued was for batteries in Kyocera Slider K400 and 3200 Series cell phones. Kyocera's office of information and public affairs announced the recall Oct. 28.

John Chier, spokesman for Kyocera Wireless, said there were 14 incidents with the aforementioned batteries catching fire or exploding.

"The batteries turned out to be counterfeit," he said. "Our quality control program at Kyocera discovered the problem."

He said unknown to the company, Kyocera's battery packing house had been using unapproved and unauthorized products.

Chier said customers were urged to send in their batteries and received new ones free of charge. He said the recall was discovered, reported and initiated by Kyocera.

"We take it very seriously," he said. "One incident is too many."

To keep more incidents from occurring, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association is working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to develop a set of standards with wireless carriers, manufacturers and testing labs, said Erin McGee, a spokeswoman for the association.

"We are in the process of setting uniform criteria for battery design, production and evaluation," she said. "The process will take about a year."

McGee said steps are being taken to prevent cell phone fires and explosions from occurring, but consumers should not get the impression that their occurrences are at all common.

She said while there have been 83 reports of such incidents, there are currently more than 172 million U.S. cell phone subscribers.

"That's not to dumb down the seriousness of the issue," McGee said. "It is an issue, but it is extraordinarily rare."

Chier also pointed out the rarity of a cell phone catching fire or exploding.

"You have to put the whole thing into context," he said. "If you tried to make this a percentage, you would have so many zeros after the decimal point it would be ridiculous."

Some Marquette students were not aware that cell phone explosions even occurred.

Aubrey Mulford, freshman in the College of Engineering, has owned a cell phone since her sophomore year in high school and has never heard of cell phones exploding.

"I don't think it'll really bother me," she said.

As unlikely as it is that a given cell phone will explode, both Giles and McGee said there are steps customers should take to ensure their own safety.

Giles said cell phone users should not remove the battery from their phone, and should keep the battery away from keys and change. He said doing so will prevent metal from interfering with the battery's electrodes and causing ruptures.

McGee agreed and suggested other tips for phone safety.

"Don't expose it to extreme temperatures, don't get it wet and don't tamper with the casing," she said.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Dec. 7 2004.