MONDAY, June 3, 2019 (HealthDay News) — In recent years, the number and rate of liquid laundry detergent packet exposures has declined slightly among children younger than 6 years, according to a study published online June 3 in Pediatrics.
Christopher E. Gaw, M.D., from The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues analyzed data from the National Poison Data System involving exposures to liquid laundry detergent packets from 2012 to 2017 in the United States.
The researchers identified 72,947 single and polysubstance exposures to liquid laundry detergent packets from January 2012 to December 2017. Overall, 91.7 percent of exposures occurred among children aged <6 years. Among children this age, the annual number and rate of exposures from 2012 to 2015 increased by 110.4 and 111.9 percent, respectively. From 2015 to 2017, there was an 18.0 percent decrease in the number and rate of exposures in this age group. From 2012 to 2017, the annual number and rate of exposures increased by 292.7 and 276.6 percent, respectively, among individuals aged ≥6 years. Among children <6 years, annual hospital admissions increased 63.4 percent from 2012 to 2015 and decreased 55.5 percent from 2015 to 2017.
“Opportunities exist to strengthen the current American Society for Testing and Materials safety standard to further reduce liquid laundry detergent packet exposures,” the authors write.
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