“94% of child poisonings occur at home”

Gov. Gary Herbert signed a proclamation declaring this week as Poison Prevention Week in Utah. 

“In Utah we do have a higher percentage of children poisonings: 60 percent of our calls are for children under 6. Nationally the rate is 50 percent.” said Marty Malheiro of the Utah Poison Control Center.

Every year in Utah more than 71,000 children end up in emergency rooms from medicine overdoses. Over 56,000 calls are received annually by the Utah Poison Control Center.

The most common source of poisoning in the kid’s category is from toothpaste.  Here’s why, children tend to swallow toothpaste rather than spit it out as adults do.  Toothpaste is not intended to be swallowed.

Children may use much more toothpaste than is necessary, particularly if the toothpaste tastes sweet and is colorful. 

The most dangerous substance in toothpaste is fluoride although there are other ingredients in toothpastes that hurt children as well.

Here are points to remember to reduce the risk  of poison exposure in your home:

• Store all household products and medicines out of reach and out of sight from small children and pets.
• Store all medicines separately from household products.
• Store household chemicals away from food.
• Always read labels before using.
• Follow the instructions on medicines, cleaners and pesticide.
• Never store cleaners in containers used for eating and drinking.
• Never refer to medicine as candy to a young child.
• When using household  products and medicines, never let them out of your sight.

Poison Emergencies, Questions and Prevention Information Call 1-800-222-1222

Utah Poison Control web-site: http://uuhsc.utah.edu/poison/

For an easy, complete safety checklist to use in your home visit this web-site:  http://uuhsc.utah.edu/poison/publiced/checklist.pdf

Another good web-site for information: http://www.poison.org/prevent/dangerous.asp