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Prevent Household
Poisonings
Know the hazards and
how to avoid them
 Did you know that more than 90 percent of poisonings occur in homes, and more than half of those involve children
younger than age 6?
Most poisonings occur when parents
or caregivers are home, but divert attention momentarily to the
phone or other household duties, creating the opportunity for
children to access cleaning, medical and cosmetic agents that could be
swallowed. Holidays, visits to relatives and other special events
may also bring greater risk of poisoning if the usual safeguards
are defeated or not in place.
Claudia Romo, manager of
the Injury Prevention Program at Children’s Medical
Center, recommends the following:
- Never leave children
alone in a room with cleaning, cosmetic or medical products. A
child can quickly and easily pull allergy pills from a purse or drain
cleaner from a grocery bag.
- Store alcohol and tobacco
products out of reach. Both can cause long-term physical damage or
death if swallowed by a child.
- Keep medications,
vitamins and herbal remedies stored away from curious hands and use a
safety latch on cabinets containing these items. Swallowing vitamin
pills that contain iron can be fatal to a child. Many medications
are mild to highly toxic and some such as heart medication
(digitalis), anticoagulants (warfarin), chemotherapeutic agents and
others can be fatal when ingested by children.
- Never refer to
medicine as “candy” or some other appealing
name.
- Be sure you give a child the proper dose of the proper
medication. Overdosing can cause serious reactions.
- Remove
poisonous plants. Caladium, castor bean plant (one bean can kill a
child), elephant’s ear, philodendron, mistletoe, holly and
dieffenbachia can cause skin irritation, vomiting, diarrhea,
delirium and other side effects if children eat
them.
Check for hazards
Check these locations in your home for
hazardous products. Store the following poisonous products
securely:
- Garage — Antifreeze, windshield cleaner,
gasoline, charcoal lighter, pesticides, fertilizers, garden
chemicals, fungicides, and flea and pest powder.
- Bedrooms
— Cosmetics, cologne, hair spray, nail polish and remover,
mothballs, medications and vitamins.
- Bathroom/laundry room
— Pine oil, drain and toilet cleaners, bleach, disinfectants,
detergents and aerosol sprays.
- Kitchen — Insect
killer, metal polish, alcohol, dishwashing detergent and oven
cleaner.
- Home workshop — Solder, lead, cadmium,
formaldehyde, solvents, paint and paint thinner.
Cover your
bases
Don’t rely on just one poison-control
measure.
For safety’s sake:
- Store harmful
products out of sight and reach.
- Keep products in their
original containers. For example, never store bleach or toxic
liquids in milk bottles.
- Use products only for their intended
purposes.
In an emergency
If your child
swallows a poison:
- Don’t
panic.
- Call your poison-control center if your child has mild or no
symptoms at 1-800-222-1222 or go to the North Texas
Poison Center Network Web site at
www.poisoncontrol.org.
- Call 911 or your local emergency number if your child is
unconscious, not breathing, or having convulsions or
seizures.
- Read the label of the ingested product to the medical
specialist.
- Follow the instructions of the medical personnel
precisely. Don’t induce vomiting unless told to do so; vomiting can
cause further damage if lye, dishwashing detergents, drain
cleaners, paint thinners and certain other substances were
swallowed.
Find more household safety tips
here.
Last
reviewed: April 2009
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