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Poisons

Poisons

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	Center for Biopreparedness		Pediatric Environmental Health Center
	Regional Center for Poison Control & Prevention

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Preventing Poisonings

Children are naturally inquisitive and love to explore their world. Infants tend to put everything in their mouths and toddlers grab whatever looks interesting. Adolescents may experiment with drugs and other mind-altering substances. Consider these facts about poisonings in the United States:

Each year, poison control centers receive approximately 1.5 million calls about accidental poisonings. More than 75 percent of these calls involve children under 5 years of age.
Poisoning is the fourth leading cause of death in children.
The peak incidence of poisonings occurs between 1 and 3 years of age.
Poisonings in infants younger than 1 year of age usually result from improper use of medications, such as giving the wrong medication or wrong dose of a medication.
Eighty-seven percent of poisonings in children occur in the home.
In children, approximately 57 percent of poisonings involve products other than medicines such as plants, cleaning products, cosmetics, pesticides, paints, and solvents; 43 percent of poisonings involve medications.
Iron medications are the most common cause of poisonings in children younger than 5 years of age.
There are more than 700 poisonous plants in the US; plants are the second leading cause of poisoning in children.

What is "the arsenic hour?"

Peak calls to poison control centers occur between 4 and 10 p.m. In fact, dinnertime is such a busy time of day for most families, that many times parents do not supervise their children as closely as usual. This is a common time of day for childhood poisonings to occur and has led poison center staff to call this time of day "the arsenic hour."

The good news is that prompt treatment can prevent most serious reactions. And, of course, poison prevention is always the best cure.

Be prepared for a poisoning emergency by posting the poison center telephone number by every phone in your home.

If you have any questions about poisons please call the Regional Center for Poison Control and Prevention at 1-800-222-1222.

If you have a poisoning emergency, call your local poison center immediately. If the child has collapsed or is not breathing, call 911, or your local emergency medical services (EMS).


					Children's Hospital Boston is the primary pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School

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