Laundry pods increasingly a danger to children, B.C. poison centre says
B.C.'s Drug and Poison Information Centre says the number of calls about children being accidentally exposed to laundry pods has more than doubled over the past four years.
Calls to the poison hotline have more than doubled in four years
B.C.'s Drug and Poison Information Centre says the number of calls about children being accidentally exposed to laundry pods has more than doubled over the past four years.
It says it received 59 calls in 2012 — but that had increased to 152 calls last year — leading to a total of 150 visits to the emergency room between those years.
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Dr. Roy Purssell of the centre says that if a child bites into a laundry pod, the detergent can cause severe swelling in the back of the throat which can interfere with breathing.
Purssell says the pods may be convenient, but young children can confuse them with toys or candy and they need to be stored safely.