Laundry detergent pods are one of those household items we don’t think of as poisonous, but they are.
It’s National Poison Prevention Week. (I know you’ve marked your calendars for this one.) And these reminders from the National Capital Poison Center might seem obvious, but more than a million times every year kids in the U.S. younger than 6 are exposed to poison.
Know what to do if this happens to you:
- Call 1-800-222-1222, or
- Logon to poison.org to use the webPOISONCONTROL® tool (https://triage.webpoisoncontrol.org/) for online guidance based on age, substance, and amount swallowed.
- Text POISON to 484848 and you can save the contact information for poison control or download the contact information at http://vcrd.co/poison/4222. Remember to share it with anyone who is watching your children.
Keep prescriptions and other medications away from children. Liz O. Baylen/Los Angeles Times file
Follow these steps from the National Capital Poison Center to keep your child save:
- Up, up and away! Keep medications and poisonous household products out of your child’s sight and reach. Locked up is best.
- Avoid container transfer. Some of the most devastating poisonings occur when toxic products are poured into food or beverage containers, then mistaken for food or drink.
- Read the label and follow the directions. Misusing products has dire consequences.
- Use child-resistant packaging. It’s not child-proof, but so much better than nothing. Sorry it’s inconvenient, but using it could save a life.
- Keep button batteries away from children. Swallowed batteries can burn through your child’s esophagus and cause permanent injury or even death.
- Keep laundry pods out of your child’s reach. They are as toxic as they are colorful and squishy.
