Laundry Detergent Pods Continue To Poison Children And Adults At Alarming Rate, Experts Say
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The current safety standards are not doing enough to protect children from being injured by those popular laundry detergent pods. The pre-measured packets are convenient and popular, but the detergent is toxic.
The new research says they continue to poison children and injure some adults, and that more needs to be done to prevent poisonings.
They're shiny and colorful and can look like candy to young children, but detergent pods contain dangerous chemicals. U.S. Poison Control Centers received nearly 73,000 calls over five years about liquid laundry detergent packets.
Despite a new product safety standard adopted in 2015, the study in pediatrics shows only an 18% decrease in exposures in children under 6 years old.
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Eight deaths were associated with ingestion of the packets -- two in children under 1 year old and six in adults with a history of dementia.
"If you have young children or if you have at-risk older seniors, these really shouldn't be in your house. There are alternative that are just as good for your laundry, the powders and the liquids detergents," Henry Spiller, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center, said.
The study also says eye injuries from the popular products are increasing in adults, with 700 people ending up in the ER last year.
"They pop and they squirt up into your face. And if you get it in your eye, it can be a significant injury," Spiller said.
Experts at poison centers say more needs to be done to prevent accidental exposures, and how they can be made less toxic.
"We would like for them to individually wrap the laundry detergent packets. Right now it's voluntary and they haven't," Spiller said.
Researchers say liquid laundry detergent packets are more toxic than the traditional liquid and powder.
Doctors say the chemicals in the pods are very concentrated which is what makes them dangerous. They've caused severe burns to the mouth and respiratory tract, in addition to cognitive issues.
About 6% of exposures in the study resulted in serious medical outcomes.