Posion Prevention Week Planned To Warn Parents Of Household Poisons

As many as 100,000 young American Children will be poisoned accidentally this year, the governments warning parents. And most of these poisonings will occur as a direct result of adult carelessness about household substances which are poisonous.

The warning comes from the Consumer Product Safety Commission which is helping to promote National Poison Prevention Week, being conducted this year from March 16th through the 22nd.

CPSC Chairman Susan King and Commissioner Jere E. Coyan of the Food and Drug Administration are reminding parents that nearly all accidental poisonings to children under the age of five years can be prevented by keeping dangerous household products out of their reach. They are urging parents to

-- buy and use products with child-resistant caps and closures.

-- keep products in their original containers with the warning labels intact.

-- make sure that drugs, cleaning products and other potentially hazardous substances are kept securely in cabinets and other locations inaccessible to children.

Both CPSC and the FDA are members of the Poison Prevention Week Council which sponsors the annual publicity campaign. The Council consists of 28 professional and trade associations, health and safety organizations, youth-oriented service groups, and medical, dental, nursing and pharmaceutical organizations, as well as government agencies.

CPSC administers a federal law (the Poison Prevention Packaging Act) which requires child-resistant packaging for certain types of narcotics and other dangerous drugs, drain cleaners and oven cleaners, lighter fluid, turpentine and a variety of solvents and other household products. *

Until the previous decade, aspirin was the substance most commonly involved in poisonings to young children and was the first substance required to have child-resistant closures under the PPPA. Since the safety closures have been required, there has been a 76 per cent reduction in the number of deaths to young children who ingested aspirin, and a 60 per cent decrease in the actual number of ingestions. Overall, deaths from accidental poisonings to young children from all household products have been reduced by 56 per cent.

Most recently, poisonous household plants have been the cause of the greatest number of reports of child poisonings (as reported by poison control centers across the country). Detergents, cleaners and soaps ranked second, and vitamin/mineral preparations ranked third.

Parents only do not perceive some household liquids to be poisonous - such as furniture polish, liniments and paint thinner - resulting in careless storage of the containers. Special care should be taken to store these products out of the reach of young children and to purchase them only if they are equipped with child-resistant closures.

CPSC is reminding parents and other consumers that child-resistant packaging can help save lives only if properly used. Additional safety tips include

-- closing the container properly after use to rescure the safety feature.

-- remembering that these safety features are no more than "child-resistant" - some young children may be able to open poison-prevention packages.

-- ensuring that the telephone numbers of the nearest poison control center, rescue squad service and physician are listed next to the telephone in the event of a poisoning.

* Other products covered by the PPPA of 1970 include automobile antifreeze, oral dosage prescription drugs, dietary supplements and drugs containing iron, windshield washer solutions, liquid furniture polish, oil of wintergreen, products containing aspirin and aspirin substitutes.