Poison Control Centers in Pennsylvania are informing parents with young children on the dangers of new single-dose laundry detergent packets or “pods.”
With brightly colored, “bite-sized” packaging, this detergent can easily be mistaken for candy by young children.
This new product is making children violently ill due to its higher concentration of chemicals within each pack. These products may be two or four times the usual strength of typical laundry detergent.
Swallowing these packs is resulting in children suffering from symptoms not typically seen in detergent ingestion.
Bruce Ruck, with the New Jersey Poison Control Center, said, “We really haven’t, with regular laundry detergent, seen the breathing problems and the significant vomiting that we’ve seen with these pods.”
Some children and toddlers who have swallowed these detergent packages have become ill and have required hospitalization, while some children get it in their eyes and experience severe irritation.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) recently reported a toddler who swallowed a detergent pack and experienced drowsiness, vomiting and aspiration requiring intubation.
The American Trauma Society, PA Division (ATSPA) urges you to prevent possible poisonings by keeping detergents and cleaning supplies out of a child’s reach and teaching older children about the dangers of these products.
Ingestion of laundry detergent pods is not to be taken lightly. Call your local Poison Control Center if you suspect your child has ingested one of these products, or contact the Poison Control Center Hotline at 1-800-222-1222.
ATSPA is a non-profit trauma prevention education organization dedicated to reducing suffering, disability and death due to trauma.
ATSPA strives to help all Pennsylvanians survive and lead healthier lives through its trauma prevention education programs.
For information on their trauma prevention educational materials and/or programs, call 1-717-766-1616 and visit www.atspa.org.
