Accidental Poisonings

6 Things You Need to Know Now

By Alexandria Powell

Every seven minutes, a child under 5 years of age is taken to an emergency room due to accidental poisoning. In fact, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the majority of childhood poisonings occur in kids 5 and under – and most of these poisonings involve products commonly found in the home.

"Kids can get in trouble with absolutely everything," says Dr. Lynette Mazur, professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. "That's why anything that can possibly be poisonous needs to be put up or locked up."

Toddlers are often attracted by the bright colors, sweet smell and interesting packaging of many potentially toxic household products, says Dr. Seema Csukas, director of community health development and advocacy at Children's Health Care of Atlanta, who notes that small children can confuse these products with something good to eat or drink. For instance, a lemon-scented cleaner might be mistaken for juice, while medication in pill form might be mistaken for candy.

And even if the cleaning product stinks or the medicine tastes horrible, don't assume your child will be deterred. "Children are known to put anything in their mouths," Dr. Csukas says. "They cannot read packaging and do not know the difference."

March is Poison Prevention Month. Here are 6 things you need to know now to keep your family safe from accidental poisonings.

Read labels, says Meri-K Appy, president of the Washington-based Home Safety Council, and look for the signal word. "The signal word will be the word on the label which is in all caps, and it is the one to pay attention to," Appy says. "If you see 'CAUTION,' 'WARNING,' 'DANGER' or even 'POISON,' those are products that you want to secure carefully."

Keep medicines and household products in their original containers. "People tend to transfer things to a different container, especially pills, say, from a big bottle to a smaller bottle," Appy says. "But when you do that, you may end up not remembering what was in the smaller bottle or how much was in it." If medications or products have expired, dispose of them according to the package instructions.

Want to see more?

• Too Many Toxins: Keeping Poisons Away from Curious Hands
• Creating the Home Medical Kit: Have What You Need at Your Fingertips
• Protect Your Child Against Poisons: Hidden Hazards Lurk in Common Household Products
• Check out our Article Library.
• Talk about it!