SAN ANTONIO – Dangerous and deadly ingestion of liquid laundry packs goes beyond children to include adults with dementia. Consumer Reports looked at reported deaths linked to the laundry packs and found some adults are at risk of accidental poisoning, too.
The colorful, squishy packets of highly concentrated detergent can look like candy, enticing to curious kids who can bite into them.
But, records show it's not just kids.
Since 2012, there have been eight reported deaths in the U.S. associated with laundry packet exposure. But, six of those fatalities were adults with dementia.
"An expert that we talked to let us know that people with dementia often mistake random items for food," said Consumer Reports chief science officer James Dickerson.
In 2015, Poison Control Centers logged more than 13,000 calls related to the convenient laundry products.
Since then, consumer advocates pushed for change and safety, including new packaging that his now available.
Manufacturers have made other voluntary changes including making the pods stronger to withstand squeezing and squirting the burning chemicals into the eyes and adding a bitter taste.
Manufacturers are fully committed to reducing accidental access to laundry pods, according to the American Cleaning Institute.
Consumer Reports advises anyone who has children under the age of 6 or who is cognitively impaired in their home to not use the liquid laundry packets.
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