from journal Pediatrics
Packets of laundry and dishwasher
detergent are convenient to use and often
colorfully wrapped. Those two attributes
may contribute to growing numbers of
young children putting detergent packages
in their mouths—with sometimes serious
and fatal consequences. A new study in
the journal Pediatrics counted more than
sixty thousand calls to poison control
centers in two recent years after
unintentional exposures to laundry
detergent—with the greatest increase from
exposure to packets of laundry detergent,
especially those containing liquid
detergent. The most serious cases
involved coma, respiratory arrest and
cardiac arrest. Authors say effectiveness
of newly adopted voluntary safety
standards by detergent makers should be
monitored and, if needed, strengthened.