A poisoning is when someone swallows, breathes, touches or gets splashed in the eye with a substance that can cause sickness or death. Many times the substances in and of itself is not poisonous. An adult may take an aspirin to ease some pain, but when a two-year-old ingests a handful of pills, thinking they are candy, it can result in much more than a headache.
Why is poison prevention at home important? Shockingly, 90% of all poisonings occur in the home, which is the one environment you would think people had the most control over. Read on for advice about how you can prevent poisonings in your home.
Poison prevention at home starts with reading the label. Turn on the lights, get your glasses and read the label, even if you use the product all the time. The household cleaning products you use are safe when used and stored according to the directions on the label. Pay particular attention to products whose labels include the words “Caution,” “Warning,” “Danger,” or “Poison” and if you have any questions, call the toll-free number found on most product labels.
The third week of March is noted as Poison Prevention Week, so it is the perfect time to remind families with children of all ages about poison safety do’s and don’ts.
Do...
• Always read and follow label directions for proper use, storage and disposal
• Store cleaning products in an area which is away from food and not accessible to young children or pets.
• Store products in their original containers and keep the original label intact. Product use and storage, disposal instructions, precautions and first aid instructions vary according to their ingredients. It can be dangerous to use a product incorrectly or to follow the wrong emergency procedures.
• Put cleaning products away immediately after use. This will help limit accessibility to young children and help prevent accidental spills.
• Keep buckets containing cleaning solutions out of the reach of young children.
• Properly close all containers, especially those with child-resistant caps.
Don’t...
• Mix cleaning products. Products which are safe when used alone can sometimes cause dangerous fumes if mixed with other products.
• Reuse an empty household cleaning product container for any other purpose. The label instructions and precautions for the original product may be inaccurate or dangerous if used for a different product.
If you have little ones around your home, make sure you take this information from the American Cleaning Institute seriously. The motto, “Children Act Fast, So Do Poisons.” Is as true today as ever.
Donna Krug is the Family & Consumer Science Agent with K-State Research and Extension – Barton County. You may reach her at: (620)793-1910 or dkrug@ksu.edu