Being a childless adult, I can only begin to imagine the daunting task of "child proofing" your home. From the time your children are able to bring fist to mouth, until they are old enough to understand complete sentences and comprehend the meaning of the word, "Danger"; parents all over the world must feel like they have to have eyes on the back of their heads in order to ensure their child's safety. The first thing that the Government of Canada and Poison Control awareness Center's urge parents to do is "lock up" all of their household cleaning, construction, and automobile products. My Mother told me recently that she had placed handy latches on the inside of the cupboard doors under the sink and were very difficult to open, unless you knew how (and were tall enough). Later on, I discovered that there was a hidden panel to a cupboard protected by nothing but a "butterfly clip" in the wall leading to our basement which housed many of the more caustic chemicals. Mind you, I was ten before I saw it open and tall enough to reach inside; however, if you are not as fortunate to have something like that in your home, you will more than likely be storing your chemicals in places where you children could easily get to - especially, if it is accidentally left unlocked.
A May 2012 article of The Globe And Mail stated:
"(a) Survey, conducted on behalf of Safe Kids Canada, a national advocacy organization, found that while nearly all parents say it’s important to lock up medications and household cleaners, many aren’t following through.
About half of parents say they store medication in a medicine cabinet, while 60 per cent keep cleaning products under the sink"
Margaret Thompson, Medical Director for Ontario Poison Center was added to that statement, "If it’s available, a child will get into it". This is true, especially when you think of everyday use items such as dish washing liquid which is usually left out on the counter ready for use.
After reading this statement, I began to think about the reasons why a child might want to consume any household cleaning product or medication. The CDC, Ontario Poison Center, and the National Capitol Poison Center all encourage adults to refrain from referring to prescription medication as "candy" around children. 2012 statistics at the National Capitol Poison Center in Washington DC show that 55% of all poisonings in children 0-6 years of age were from prescription medications. It has been well documented that even though medication have "child resistant" caps on them, it is still possible for children to unscrew and even bite through the bottoms of pill containers in order to open them. It is also wise to not re-use your pill containers to house different medications. If you do not keep your medication in it's designated bottle and a child consumes it, medical professionals will have a hard time treating accidental ingestion. The exact amount and type of medication must be produced at the emergency room for quick diagnosis and effective treatment.
As for household cleaning products, dyes and fragrances often peak children's curiosity. For example, Cool-Aid is often brightly coloured and it can resemble most liquid dish soaps and laundry detergents. Suddenly, your dish liquid looks like tasty juice. The best example of children and colour association I can think of was one that I witnessed myself when I was working in a book store. I witnessed a little girl, approximately four-years-old, grab a large bright pink book off the bottom shelf of the "Fiction" section on the "Adult" shelves. In big blue letters spelled the word, "Porno", and on the cover was a picture of a deflated blow-up doll. Funny, yes; but soon Mom saw what her little girl had in her hands and quickly put it back on the shelves. The little girl saw bright pink and she picked it up. At the age of four, this little girl already associated colour with gender and more importantly, with things that have to do with her.
While I have not been able to collect any data regarding household poisonings in Canada. For reasons unknown, Canada does not keep track of such statistics, with the exception of unintentional pesticide poisoning in rural areas - largely farming communities. I have been able to find an overwhelming amount of information about incidents in the United Kingdom, Unites States of America, and even Saudi Arabia. Most accidental household poisonings are, thankfully, asymptomatic; however, there are a large number of substances which are consumed which do cause serious harm. Even though keeping household chemicals and medication out of reach of children may seem to be common sense, this is still a great hurtle which our society still has to overcome. The case for non-toxic household cleaners is well illustrated in clear sight of the statistics.
United States
In 1970, US Congress passed the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA). Under the PPPA, child resistant packaging is required for 30 categories of medication and household cleaning products. Fortunately, since the PPPA was passed, the amount of accidental deaths due to household poisonings of children 5 and under, has greatly declined from 216 in 1972, to 34 in 2008 3. In 2011, a total of 1 million, non-medicinal, exposure calls were made to the 57 National Poison Ceneters accross the United States. With the bulk of the calls on behalf of children 5 and under. The most common exposures noted as cosmetic/personal care products and household cleaning substances accounting for 15% of the total number of poisonings that year. The most serious of these poisonings came from toilet bowl and drain cleaners, nail glue solvents, and windshield washing liquid 1. In 2012, the top five most common poison exposures in children aged 5 years or less were cosmetics/ personal care products (13.9%) at #1, and household cleaning substances (9.7%) at #3, just behind analgesics (9.9%) 4.
United Kingdom
"Between 1 March 2008 and 30 April 2009 the UK National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) collected prospectively 5 939 telephone inquiries relating to household products, approximately 10% of all telephone inquiries received over this period.
The majority of inquiries (n = 3893; 65.5%) concerned children 5 years of age or less and were received predominantly from hospitals (n = 1 905; 32.1%), general practitioners (n = 1 768; 29.8%) and NHS Direct/NHS 24 (n = 1 694; 28.5%). The majority of exposures occurred at home (n = 5795; 97.6%); most exposures were accidental (n = 5 561; 93.6%). Liquid detergent capsules were most commonly involved (n = 647), followed by bleaches (n = 481), air fresheners (n = 429), multipurpose cleaners (n = 408), dishwasher products (n = 399) and descalers (n = 397). Exposure to household products occurred mainly as a result of ingestion (n = 4616; 75.8%), with eye contact (n = 513; 8.4%), inhalation (n = 420; 6.9%) and skin contact (n = 187; 3.1%) being less common; 5.1% (n = 313) of enquiries involved multiple routes of exposure. The most commonly reported features were vomiting (ingestion), pain (eye contact), dyspnoea (inhalation) and burns (skin contact). In 5 840 of 5939 enquiries the Poisoning Severity Score (PSS) was known. The majority of patients (n = 4117; 70.5%) were asymptomatic (PSS 0), 28.0% (n = 1638) developed minor features (PSS 1), 1.3% (75 patients) developed moderate features (PSS 2) and 0.15% (nine patients) developed serious features (PSS 3). Four of these nine patients made a complete recovery, two died from exposure to drain cleaner and PVC solvent cleaner; the outcome in three was unknown2".
The most common amongst the household items which children under the age of 5 ingest, include the following:
Aftershaves, Colognes, Mouthwash and Perfumes: Products consisting of 75-95% Ethanol.
Bleach: Household solutions containing approx. 3-10% sodium hypochlorite or less commonly
3% hydrogen peroxide; extremely unpalatable and not likely to cause serious damage.
Industrial bleach up to 50% of sodium hypochlorite.
Detergents/Laundry Powders (3 Chemical categories: non-ionic, anionic, and cationic):
Non-ionic and anionic are low toxicity. Cationic: Will cause corrosive lesions if
concentrated solution is involved.
Dishwasher powders, liquids and tablets: Older or professional use products which are highly
Alkaline could cause severe corrosive injury.
Disinfectant and Antiseptics: May contain a number of toxic constituents - Chlorhexidine,
hexylresorcinol, hydrogen peroxide, ichthammol, iodine, phenol,
potassium permanganate; usually they are found in very low
quantities and diluted solutions.
Essential Oils: Volatile mixtures of esters, alcohol, and ketones. Some, like camphor, are highly
toxic.
Nail Care/Nail Varnish Removers: Typically contain scetone or ethyl acetate, but other solvents
may be used including menthol. Artificial nail products
containing methacrylic acid may cause severe caustic injury,
nitroetherlene may cause methemoglobinemisa and
acetonitrile may cause cyanide poisoning. (Note: Natural nail
polishes are removed by soaking nails in warm water. Paint
can then be peeled. No need for solvents).
For more on these and other household items which may pose a danger to young children please see the following article: Unintentional Household Poisoning in Children. On page 256, there is a table elaborating on the substances I already covered. The table also includes signs/symptoms and treatment. As always, if your child ingests any household cleaner, even the green ones, contact your local Poison Control Center immediately.
I believe that in light of the evidence, there should be a larger push for elimination of toxic chemicals from the home. Where they cannot be avoided, they most definitely should be kept out of reach of children and parents should take special care of either stowing their children away while cleaning, or the bottles of chemicals after opening. With the low risk of serious injury from ingesting low or non-ionic household cleaning products, like those manufactured by Nature Clean, children and the environment would benefit greatly from a toxic free home. Hopefully, with raising awareness, there will one day be no fatalities from ingestion or inhalation of dangerous chemicals.
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