(Montreal) A considerable number of young children continue to need care each year after coming into contact with the contents of laundry detergent sachets, even if the situation tends to improve, recent data shows .
The Quebec Poison Control Center thus received 137 requests in 2023 concerning children aged five and under who had been exposed to the contents of a sachet. This compares to 141 requests in 2022, 114 requests in 2021 and 131 requests in 2020.
The situation is stable among 6-12 year olds. Fewer than five calls were received in 2023, compared to a high of 13 in 2021.
The two largest pediatric hospitals in Montreal, the CHU Sainte-Justine and the Montreal Children’s Hospital, together welcomed around fifteen small patients in the emergency room for this reason over the past year.
“You have to think that these are chemical products that happen to be camouflaged under a beautiful design in a small capsule,” said Marie-Gabrielle Delisle, who is assistant head nurse, trauma trajectory and severe burns, at CHU Sainte- Justine. But it remains the famous chemical product which is just as dangerous as the one in the more classic bottle that we recognize and then see. »
A similar trend is observed in the United States. An investigation recently published in the newspaper Clinical Toxicology by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio reports a 6.8% decline between 2020 and 2022 in children six years and younger, based on data from U.S. Poison Control Centers .
However, the study authors note, “approximately 6% of exposures to a single substance had serious medical consequences.”
Despite declines in the number, rate, and severity of exposures to liquid laundry detergent packets among children under 6 years of age, the exposure burden remains high.
Extract from the survey published in Clinical Toxicology
Especially since liquid detergent sachets are more toxic than traditional liquid and powder detergents, recalls a press release distributed by Nationwide.
“The reasons for this increased toxicity are not fully understood and further research is needed to determine how to make the contents of the sachets less toxic. Such a reformulation would reduce the severity of exposures to liquid detergent sachets. »
Contact with the contents of the sachets can cause injuries to the face, eyes and fingers, recalls Mme Delisle. If ingested, the child may experience nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain. He may also present with diarrhea and breathing difficulties, or even inflammation of the respiratory tract which may require hospitalization in intensive care.
Prevention is therefore of great importance, she continues, especially as cleaning products offered in sachet form are increasing on the market. Ensuring these products are out of reach of children and locking cabinets are just two steps one can take.
“It’s also important to do a little teaching with the children, to have discussions with them, to explain to them that although it looks like candy, it’s chemicals, it’s dangerous, and then that they shouldn’t touch it,” she said.
In the event of exposure, she concludes, follow the product manufacturer’s instructions and contact the Poison Control Center.