SAN ANTONIO – Parents have long been warned to keep household poisons such as cleaning products, batteries and laundry pods out of the reach of children. Add perfume and deodorant to the list.
Potentially dangerous beauty products may not be so obvious, so Consumer Reports warns people who have little ones in their homes to keep personal care items away from curious children.
Fragrances, moisturizers, deodorants and other beauty products have sent a child under the age of 5 to the emergency room every two hours, according to a study conducted over a 15-year period. Nail polish remover was the most common cause of those ER visits.
“Most of these injuries were due to kids swallowing personal care products, which led to poisoning. The second most common scenario was these products coming in contact with kids’ skin or eyes, leading to a chemical burn,” said Consumer Reports’ Lauren Friedman.
So how do you keep kids away from these products? For starters, she said personal care products should be stored securely out of reach and out of sight.
Keep products in their original container, so if your child does get into something, you’ll know the exact ingredients to tell the poison control center or your pediatrician.
And know what number to call if your child gets injured. All poison control centers can be reached by calling the same telephone number.
But if your child has collapsed or is unconscious after ingesting a possible poison, call 911 immediately.