If you use laundry pods, a new study from the Journal of Pediatrics says, “Yes!”
When first introduced to the market several years ago, detergent pods promised to ‘revolutionize’ the laundry industry with their convenient packaging and easy to use format. A detergent pod is simply the amount of detergent required to wash one load of laundry stored conveniently in a light packaging that dissolves in the washing machine. While convenient, the pods, like many household cleaning products, pose a substantial danger to children should the detergent contained inside be digested or spread to areas of the body such as eyes. In some cases, the damage has been fatal; CNN reports:
“Last year, a Florida mother of a seven-month-old came back to her room to find that her baby had accidentally eaten one of those bright coloured laundry detergent pods. He had been sleeping in a laundry basket with the pod when it happened. They rushed him to the hospital, but it was too late. He died of poisoning from the detergent.”
While death is the most serious consequence of accidental ingestion, children can also develop a myriad of other serious after-effects including respiratory distress, violent vomiting, and even temporary blindness, should the detergent get in their eyes. The study found that in the US from 2012-2013, there were 17,230 children younger than six that were exposed to laundry detergent pods, with children younger than three accounting for 73.5% of cases. One of the biggest problems with laundry detergent pods is the aspect that makes them so appealing to consumers – the packaging. Laundry detergent pods are brightly coloured and small enough to fit into a child’s mouth, making it very easy for the pod to be mistaken as candy. Additionally, the flimsy packaging, designed to dissolve in the washing machine, makes it easy for young children to break through to the detergent with fingers or teeth.
The study concluded the following: Laundry detergent pods pose a serious poisoning risk to young children. This nationwide survey underscores the need for increased efforts to prevent exposure of young children to these products, which may include improvements in product packaging and labeling, development of a voluntary product safety standard, and public education. Product constituent reformulation is another potential strategy to mitigate the severity of clinical effect of laundry detergent pod exposure.
If you use laundry detergent pods and have young children in your home (or that visit your home), a prudent course of action is to ensure the laundry detergent pods are locked away and well out of reach of children. However, the best solution is to not have any laundry detergent pods in your home at all, this way you can be sure a child (or animal) will never come across one, including ones that may have fallen and hidden themselves somewhere only a curious child could find.
With Simply Laundry, you can eliminate the risk of detergent poisoning completely and have fresh, professionally laundered clothes picked up and delivered to your door. Get poisonous hazards out of your home and sign up for a free account with Simply Laundry. If you already have an account, place an order today!