Officials are issuing a warning to parents about the dangers of laundry detergent pods. Poison experts say more and more kids swallow those convenient, but toxic, laundry detergent pods.
The Centers for Disease Control And Prevention published a report Thursday that looked at a one month period from mid-June of this year to mid-July. In that time, just one month, poison control centers across the country received more than 1,000 reports of children being poisoned by laundry detergent. About half of the time, it involved the concentrated pods.
They are laundry detergent pods of concentrated soap, wrapped in a thin, dissolvable lining.
Since January, the Georgia Poison Control Center in Atlanta has received 140 reports of children -- most of them toddlers -- swallowing or being hurt by one these detergent pods.
Marietta mother Collins Foster says that she washes her family's clothes with a fragrance-free liquid detergent for sensitive skin, not the pods.
They've only been on the market in the US since 2010, and she'd never even heard of them until Thursday. But when Collins shows them to her 3-year-old daughter Emerson, the child began playing with them like a ball.
The problem is when the pods are broken, or ingested, kids can begin to experience nausea or vomiting. They can choke or have breathing problems and some of them are actually getting this soap into their eyes.
Poison experts say that if you use the pods, keep them out of reach, and out of sight of young children.
Collins has tried to teach Emerson what's safe and what's not, but like any kid her age, she's curious.
"It's one of the most unsettling, unnerving parts about being a parent, because you can't be with them all the time," said Collins Foster.
Poison control experts say this is a good time to look around your house for other hazards your kids can get into.
One common cause of poisoning is medication.
If you carry it in your purse, make sure that your purse up and out of reach.
Make sure that your child's daycare, or babysitter, or grandparents are also kid-proofing their homes as well.
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