New research is out that shows families who have small children or infants in the home should avoid a very popular cleaning item. Although these items can be found in many homes, they have led to some unfortunate accidents.
The danger comes from a rather unlikely source, detergent pods and packets. As you can clearly see in the image below, when you put them next to some rather common candies, it is difficult to tell the difference.
Of course, many families appreciate the convenience of using laundry pods rather than lugging around giant jugs of detergent. They have become extremely popular, but as you’ll see, there is a danger associated with them that parents should not ignore.
Unfortunately, laundry pods are not only popular among parents, they have become popular among infants and young children as well. In many cases, they are popping these colorful pods right into their mouths, with disastrous consequences.
Despite the fact that there have been warnings in the past, calls continue to come into poison control centers in response to this type of danger.
According to a study recently posted by Pediatrics, the rise in these cases has gone up almost 20%.
According to the co-author of the study, Dr. Gary Smith:
What we found was astounding. During the two years of this study we saw an increase in the number of exposures due to detergent, but especially among exposures to laundry detergent packets. In fact, a child is reported to a poison control center about every 45 minutes in this country.
The harm caused by these pods is astounding. As of the time that the study was released, they were responsible for 6 cases of respiratory arrest, 2 cases of cardiac arrest, 4 cases of pulmonary edema and 17 cases of coma.
The second largest danger on the rise in households are dishwasher detergent packets. They can harm children in the same way.
Dr. Smith had a further caution for parents:
I’ve seen children in emergency departments for decades that have been exposed to laundry detergents. But we have never seen anything like this. These children have come in in a coma, they’ve stopped breathing. We’ve even had two deaths in the last two years due to exposure to laundry detergent packets.
The government tried to pass a bill this year which would force companies that manufacture these pods and packets to follow established safety guidelines. Representatives put the bill aside when the companies promised they would address the issues on their own.
They have added safety features that make the containers more difficult to open. They have also hidden the pods behind different wrapping and added bitter powder to the surface of the pods. As of yet, there has not been a decline in the number of related incidents.
Via: Daily Buzz
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