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By Leon Thompson
April 27, 2016 (Washington D.C.) – According to a new study in the journal Pediatrics, 17,230 children under the age of 6 have been accidentally poisoned by ingesting laundry detergent pods in a one year period from 2013 to 2014. In all, 769 children were hospitalized, 30 went into a coma and two died. The latest victim is a 7-month-old baby boy in Florida, who died.
Ingesting any form of laundry detergent, powder or liquid would be poisonous. However, the pods have a chemical composition and concentration that is more toxic. The pods are cheerfully colored and look like candy or a toy. They are even scented.
The pods have become popular since they were introduced by Proctor & Gamble in 2012 for convenience and portion control.
Parents of young children may wish to switch to conventional laundry detergents. If you do use laundry pods, they should be treated like all hazardous household products and kept out of reach if there are children living in or visiting the home.
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