Exposure to laundry detergent packets is more dangerous to young children than exposure to other types of laundry and dishwasher detergent, reports a new study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute atNationwide Children's Hospital and the Central Ohio Poison Center. The study, published online in Pediatrics, found that from January 2013 through December 2014 Poison Control Centers in the U.S. received 62,254 calls related to laundry and dishwasher detergent exposures among children younger than 6 years old.
‘Children who had been exposed to the chemicals in a laundry detergent packet had a serious medical outcome, hospitalization, or incubation than for those exposed to any other type of laundry or dishwasher detergent.’
The study included calls about both traditional detergent and detergent packets and found that detergent packets accounted for 60 percent of all calls. Almost half (45 percent) of the calls for exposure to laundry detergent packets were referred to a health care facility for evaluation and treatment, significantly more than calls related to exposures to traditional laundry detergent (17 percent), traditional dishwasher detergent (four percent), or dishwasher detergent packets (five percent). Incidents related to laundry detergent packets saw the biggest rise - increasing 17 percent over the two year study period. Poison control centers received more than 30 calls a day about children who had been exposed to a laundry detergent packet, which is about one call every 45 minutes.
In addition, the most serious clinical effects such as coma, trouble breathing, heart problems, and death, were only seen in children exposed to the chemicals in laundry detergent packets.
The risks of having a clinical effect, a serious medical outcome, hospitalization, or incubation were significantly higher for children who had been exposed to the chemicals in a laundry detergent packet than for those exposed to any other type of laundry or dishwasher detergent.
At least one child a day in the U.S. was admitted to the hospital due to a laundry detergent packet exposure. The two child deaths in this study were both associated with exposure to laundry detergent packets.
Advertisement
"This voluntary standard is a good first step, but it needs to be strengthened," said Gary Smith, MD, DrPH, the senior author of the study and director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital. "Unless this unacceptably high number of exposures declines dramatically, manufacturers need to continue to find ways to make this product and its packaging safer for children."
Advertisement