Title: How harmful is liquid laundry detergent pod exposure? <br/>Author: Hong Kim<br/><a href='http://umem.org/profiles/faculty/526/'>[Click to email author]</a><hr/><p> </p> <p> Single use laundry pods are readily available in many homes. Due to their bright colors, they have been mistaken for edible products (e.g. candy) by children.</p> <p> A recent study reviewed 4652 laundry pod exposures from United Kingdom.</p> <p> 95.4% involved children aged < 5 years via oral route (89.7%).</p> <ul> <li> Asymptomatic: 1738 (37.4%)</li> <li> Minor symptoms: 2728 (58.6%)</li> <li> Moderate symptoms: 107 (2.3%)</li> <li> Severe symptoms: 19 (0.4%)</li> <li> Death: 1 </li> </ul> <p> </p> <p> Common symptoms in moderate/severe symptom groups, including fatality (n=127)</p> <ul> <li> Vomiting: 75</li> <li> Stridor: 34</li> <li> CNS depression: 22</li> <li> Keratitis/corneal damage: 21</li> <li> Coughing: 18</li> <li> Conjunctivitis: 13</li> <li> Hypersalivation: 12</li> <li> Foaming from the mouth: 11</li> <li> Hypoxemia: 11</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p> Conclusion</p> <ul> <li> The majority of the laundry pod exposure occurs via oral route and result in no or minor symptoms</li> <li> Although rare, respiratory, GI and ocular effect can occur after laundry pod exposure.</li> </ul> <fieldset><legend>References</legend>
<p> Day R, Bradberry SM, Jackson G, et al. A review of 4652 exposures to liquid laundry detergent capsules reported to the United Kigndom National Poisons Information Service 2008 - 2018. <span role="menubar" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 11.004500389099121px;"><a abstractlink="yes" alsec="jour" alterm="Clin Toxicol (Phila)." aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=A+review+of+4652+exposures+to+liquid+laundry+detergent+capsules+reported+to+the+United+Kingdom+National+Poisons+Information+Service+2008%E2%80%932018#" role="menuitem" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 102); border-bottom-width: 0px;" title="Clinical toxicology (Philadelphia, Pa.).">Clin Toxicol (Phila).</a></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 11.004500389099121px;"> 2019 Mar 20:1-8. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2019.1590586. [Epub ahead of print]</span></p> </fieldset>