Laundry pods may be convenient for parents, but can be highly dangerous to children, Consumer Reports warns. The magazine, which rates products for safety and efficacy, has withdrawn its recommendation of the products, following this report.
Laundry pods full of concentrated liquid, meant for cleaning single loads of clothes, first came onto the market early in 2012. The packets contain highly poisonous chemicals, but young children are often attracted to them because they are colorful, soft and easy to squish. More than 6,000 children around the United States have either ingested or otherwise come into contact with these harsh detergents during the first six months of 2015, the American Association of Poison Control Centers reports (PDF). More than 11,700 reports of laundry pod exposure by children under the age of six were filed nationwide in 2014, Consumer Reports notes.
Consumer Reports and other groups issued warnings as early as September 2012, calling on manufacturers to develop safeguards to prevent or reduce poisonings. The industry responded by developing child-resistant safety latches for their packaging, and by eliminating clear plastic exteriors, which had previously shown the brightly colored detergent packets. These brilliant colors often attracted children, leading to toxic exposure. Proctor & Gamble announced significant changes to its packaging, in an effort to protect children.
"Given the continued danger, we have made the decision to not include pods on our list of recommended laundry detergents.... And we strongly urge households where children younger than 6 are ever present to skip them altogether; our new position doesn't apply to laundry (or dishwasher) pods that contain powder, because injuries associated with them are less frequent and less severe," Consumer Reports wrote on its Web site.
Regular laundry detergent is far less dangerous to children then pods, according to Yahoo Health. It generally causes only mild stomach upsets if it is ingested, the AAPPC says. "Exposures to laundry packets, which are encased in a water-soluble membrane that can burst open, are typically highly concentrated compared to traditional laundry detergent and thus can have significantly more serious effects," the AAPPC notes.
"When curious kids find their way into regular liquid laundry detergent, the result is often nothing worse than an upset stomach. Laundry detergent pods are presenting more serious symptoms. Along with vomiting, lethargy, and delirium, some victims have stopped breathing. Eye injuries are another common hazard. And since 2013, at least two children have died after ingesting a pod," Yahoo Health reported.
A study late last year in the journal Pediatrics of exposures using 2012-2013 data from the National Poison Data System showed that children younger than 3 years old accounted for 73.5 percent of exposures. One death was reported along with a number of side effects ranging from more than 100 children needing tracheal intubation to respiratory arrest, corneal abrasion and ocular burns.
Managers for the media outlet stressed that they recognize the role that parents play in keeping their children safe. The poison control group recommends the pods be locked up and placed high out of reach when they are not being used. However, many people are now seeking legislative means of safeguarding children from detergent pods. While some lawmakers are looking at passing laws and regulations to provide a greater degree of safety for children, a percentage of industry sources are calling for voluntary precautions to remain in place.
Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr
