National Poison Prevention Week – Keep Your Detergents “Up, Up and Away”
Did you know that March 15th – March 21st is National Poison Prevention Week?
National Poison Prevention Week was created to remind people to consider the risks of poisonous and hazardous products and materials around your household and the potential risks involved. Those especially vulnerable are children and pets who can’t read or understand labels.
There are many products in your home RIGHT NOW that are poisonous and could make someone seriously ill, or worse yet, died from complications. Such products include household cleaners, pesticides, plants and medications.
90% of poisonings occur in the home. That is a very scary statistic.
When my children were younger I was very conscientious about keeping potentially deadly products out of their reach. I had child safety locks on the cabinets and door knobs (so they couldn’t open up certain doors). I also made sure to keep many products high up the top shelves in the cabinets out of their reach. In addition I had the number for the Poison Control Center prominently displayed on our refrigerator.
Tide and Gain have partnered with parenting & lifestyle expert, Rosie Pope, best known for her Bravo reality show Pregnant in Heels, to help parents across the country create safe (homes and) laundry rooms.
My family uses those “pillow” like laundry detergent products. I never thought about how potentially deadly they could be for children. I never thought about how tempting they could be for a child to play with or put in their mouths.
I took a look at the pods/”pillows” and realized that they had the look and feel of a gummy-like “candy.” They are also fragile so a child could easily squeeze the fluid on the inside all over themselves or worse yet – in their mouth!
Now I’ll never look at laundry detergent “pods” the same way. I’m glad my kids are teens and know better but we still have a curious dog and cats. I wouldn’t want my dog to eat one of these either.
If the graphic is hard to read on your computer you can pull up a larger image (one you could save and print out) here – Up Up and Away Tips.
Additional safety tips can be found on the P&G website, www.PGEveryday.com/tag/Safe-Home.
These are some really great tips. Some tips seem obvious, like putting laundry and cleaning products high up on a shelf, but you would be surprised at how many people still continue to store poisonous products under their sinks or on low shelves.
Even if you put things on a higher shelf a child could still gain access to it. That is why it’s important to put a safety lock on all doors and cabinets regardless of how “out of the way” you think the products are. Children are crafty and resourceful. It doesn’t take a child long to realize that they can step on a chair or climb up on the counter to reach for something that interests them.
I like the tip about keeping products in their original containers. That is great idea. That way you have all the necessary information about what the product is made of to give to the Poison Control Center in the event you ever need to call them (which I hope NEVER happens).
I also like the idea of getting down to a child’s level to look at your home from their eyes at their level. That can help you pick up on potentially dangerous situations such as uncovered outlets, plugs, wires and more.
Cabinet locks and other safety products are found at many retail locations.
In addition, the tip about doing a safety check every few months is a great idea. I think people should get in the habit of doing that at least 2-3 times a day. Perhaps you can make note to do that when the time changes, just like you would the batteries in your smoke alarm.
Now that I have you thinking about poisoning prevention I hope that you’ll take some time today or this week to look around your home for potential risks and quickly remedy the situation to avoid accidental poisoning.
For the National Poison Control Center please called 1-800-222-1222. Write this number down and display it someplace prominent in your home such as on the fridge or near you home phone. You can also add it to your contacts in your cellphone that way you have access to it when you are away from home or on vacation.
You can also visit Poison.org for more information.
Is your home protected? Do you keep your cleaning, laundry and other poisonous products high up on a locked shelf? If not, will you make sure to do that ASAP?
Do you have any experience with accidental poisoning? Feel free to share any tips you might have.
Kimberly
*I was not compensated for this post. I did receive a few laundry samples and a safety lock in exchange for my participation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
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