Laundry Pods Pose Serious Poisoning Risk to Young Children

Laundry pods, those colorful packets that can be easily tossed into the washing machine, aren’t just convenient, they’re dangerous for young children— sending one a day to the hospital.

New research conducted by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, found that from 2012 through 2013, U.S. poison control centers received reports of 17,230 children younger than age 6 swallowing, inhaling or being exposed to chemicals in laundry detergent pods. Nearly two-thirds of the cases involved 1 and 2 year olds. A total of 769 young children had to be hospitalized, an average of one per day.

“If I were a kid, I’d like to pick it up and play with it … it looks like it was made for young children to have fun with,” study co-author Dr. Marcel J. Casavant, chief of toxicology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and medical director of the Central Ohio Poison Center, told FoxNews.com.

The study found that effects of consuming laundry pods included: vomiting (48 percent of cases), coughing and choking (13 percent), eye pain or irritation (11 percent), drowsiness or lethargy (7 percent), mouth pain, burning, difficulty breathing, and windpipe injuries. While vomiting is a symptom with traditional liquids and powders, typically it happens once or twice and that’s the end of it, Casavant noted. With the pods, side effects are significantly worse.

A number of children had to be admitted to intensive care and intubated, while a handful fell into a coma. Others showed a “significant altered mental state” and had trouble staying awake, Casavant said.”

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