As the trade organization for companies that manufacture lithium ion cells and batteries as well as portable electronic products powered by lithium ion and other rechargeable batteries, the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association (PRBA) is committed to the highest quality and safety standards in product manufacturing. Our members are the leaders in the development of lithium ion technology and have also led in creating sophisticated manufacturing quality control and quality assurance practices, protective circuitry, and IEEE standards for communication between devices (such as computers or cell phones) and batteries..

Lithium ion batteries are used not just in portable consumer applications. They also are used in large format applications by the military, medical industry, and automotive industry. In fact, lithium ion batteries are now found in electric and hybrid vehicles. In order to meet this increased demand, it is expected that more than 2 billion lithium ion cells will be manufactured in 2006.

We are aware of a small number of incidents involving fires in batteries of this type. Based on the millions of lithium-ion batteries in use today and the exceptionally small number of cases in which a battery malfunction has occurred, we believe these batteries are safe and reliable when used according to manufacturers' guidelines.

PRBA encourages everyone to visit our web site at www.prba.org for more information on lithium-ion batteries.