Unintentional Poisoning:
How to Protect Your Child
Each year in the U.S., approximately 100 children ages 14 and under die and another 90,000 require treatment in hospital emergency rooms as a result of unintentional poisoning. These unintentional poisoning incidents result from children having exposure to a wide variety of products and substances, including drugs (prescription and non-prescription), plants, cleaning products, cosmetics, art supplies, alcohol, pesticides, lead (usually from toys), and carbon monoxide. About 90% of these exposures happen in the home.
So what can you do to protect your child from unintentional poisoning? Most exposures are preventable. Follow these safety precautions to lower the risk to your family:
· Ensure that drugs and medicines, including vitamins, are stored in child-resistant packaging and kept out of reach of children.
· Don’t refer to medicines as “candy”.
· Ensure that toys and other household items are free of lead-based paint.
· Do some research to ensure that your household plants do not pose a poisoning risk to people (and animals, if you have any in your home).
· Place locks or child-resistant latches on cabinets were household cleaning supplies are stored.
· Ensure that cosmetics, perfumes, art supplies, and other potentially harmful products are not accessible to children.
· Read labels to know what products could be poisonous or potentially harmful.
· Discuss poisoning prevention with your family and friends.
· Have working Carbon Monoxide alarms on each level of your home near all sleeping areas.
· Keep the Poison Control Hotline number handy: 1-800-222-1222
· If you suspect an exposure could result in an emergency medical situation, call 911 immediately.
