Household Poison Safety Reminder

At the 1999 BabyFaire in Atlanta, I spoke with Dr. Gaylord Lopez, Director of the Georgia Poison Center. We spoke about the dangers of “look-alike” poisons in the home. He related the story of an unfortunate young child that wanted to sprinkle parmesan cheese on some pasta who instead sprinkled from a similar-appearing canister of Comet cleanser, suffering esophageal burns. Another child reached to drink from what appeared to be a plastic bottle of a sports drink, only to take a swig from a bottle of Pinesol. Other children have been similarly confused (and died) after drinking 8 ounces of mouthwash.

Our conversation was a strong reminder that the attractive colors and packaging of our great cleaning supplies and medicines make it even more important to store these items safely out of reach.