There can be many dangers out there that parents might worry their children are going to get into, but perhaps the biggest dangers come in the form of those overlooked hazards in our own homes.
A new report discusses the rise in the number of children who are getting sick because they’re ingesting single-use laundry detergent pods. These small cubes are produced by companies like Tide and Purex and can typically be used as a one-off alternative to regular powdered detergent. Unfortunately, these items could also be mistaken for candy by a child who doesn’t know the difference between the two.
These relatively new products (stores started putting them on shelves in March) have already been linked to 250 reports to poison control centers across the country. In California alone, 82 instances in which a child consumed or attempted to consume the item have already been reported. One recent three day span saw nine poisonings reported to our state’s poison control authorities.
The good news is that there haven’t been any fatalities linked to the consumption of these detergent pods. Hospitalizations, though, have become increasingly common. It takes about a week for symptoms to go away, and officials have yet to see long-term damage take place.
Safer labels could soon be on the way from manufacturers. For now, though, concerned parents should simply avoid using these items or take pains to keep them far away from a child’s grasp.