AAPCC Warning: Soap ‘Pod’ Consumption leads to Toxic Poisoning in Children
Children that consume single-load soap pod detergent are exposed to toxic poisoning. They often mistake the attractively packaged laundry detergent with a colorful treat and proceed to take a bite out of it, which puts them at risk. American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) and the CDC warned adults who use the product to keep it away from the reach of young children as they could be easily poisoned.
Tide Pods (Photo credit: Au Kirk)
Close to half of the detergent-based poisoning reports are from children that consumed the toxic laundry detergent pod according to Med Page Today. Satish Pillai, MD, of the CDC, and colleagues wrote in the Oct. 19 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that 485 of 1,008 children were poisoned from May 17 to June 17, 2012.
According to the publication Archives of Disease in Childhood children mistake the soft toxic exposure packets for candy. When the water-soluble membrane of the pod is exposed to moisture it quickly dissolves and releases the single use detergent to its surroundings.
What is more insightful about the finding is that of those 454 people that were exposed, 98%, or a significant majority of the victims were under five-years-old. Ingesting the product caused an array of events to the victims and a combination of vomiting, mental status changes, and respiratory distress.
Prior to the development of a poison control code specifically for laundry detergent pod poisonings in May 2012, there were at least four case reports of younger patients. According to the CDC and AAPCC those patients were presented with serious adverse events after biting into a laundry detergent pod.
Those patients were 10 to 20 months old and suffered serious consequences after biting or ingesting the contents of a laundry detergent pod. They developed a combination of symptoms of intense vomiting, somnolence, lack of response, seizure-like symptoms, and respiratory distress. There was only one patient that did not require intubation and was treated for an emergency endoscopy to treat epiglottic swelling; the others were released after 48 hours of intubation.
Tracking the amount of people affected by eating the colorful detergent tablets was paramount to the report. The agencies then worked together to develop a new poison control code for laundry detergent pod-related poisonings for easier tracking in the National Poison Data System. It helped them obtain as much data as possible to learn from the effects of this poison and warn the public and medical professionals of this modern-day problem.
If your child has been poisoned by ingesting the detergent pods while under the supervision of some else, contact our California toxic exposure attorneys today.
Reviewed by Chris H. in 2012.