Cannabis causes more than 250 hospitalizations per year among children under 6 years old

The National Health Safety Agency has published an inventory of the causes of accidental poisoning. While medicines and household products are in the lead, poisonings by inhalation of cannabis smoke or ingestion of resin are on the rise.

Poison control centers record more than 20,000 cases of accidental poisoning among children under 15 years old each year, 4,000 requiring hospitalization. And the latest inventory published by the national health security agency (ANSES), shows that some are quite unexpected, such as poisoning by inhalation of cannabis smoke or by ingestion of resin, for example.

These are not the most common poisonings, but they have been increasing in frequency over the past 10 years, indicates the ANSES report. They are the cause of more than 250 hospitalizations per year on average among children under 6 years old and send more children to intensive care than carbon monoxide or snake bites, for example.

Also be careful with medicines and hygiene products

Other serious poisonings, which are more frequent in number, are drug poisonings, in particular neuroleptics, cardiovascular drugs or painkillers. They are responsible for 1,400 child hospitalizations per year. If we add accidents due to cosmetic products or hygiene products (nail polish, disinfectant, nail polish removers, shower gel, etc.), the medicine cabinet and bathroom products are at risk. origin, alone, of one in three calls to poison control centers.

Another significant risk at home: carbon monoxide, and always, household products. Among poisonings in children under 6 years old, carbon monoxide, a toxic odorless gas which can be released from a faulty heating device, is also one of the main causes of hospitalization and resuscitation.

Do not unpackage household products

On the “good news” side, prevention messages have made it possible to reduce accident figures linked to cleaning products over the past 10 years. But, even if the consequences for health are generally less serious than those caused by carbon monoxide, narcotics or medications, cleaning products remain the leading cause of accidental poisoning recorded by poison control centers following vomiting, skin burns, splashes in the eyes… So be careful with descaling products or pipe unblockers and above all, beware of detergent, especially in colored pods. They continue to cause accidents despite the obligation to sell them in an opaque box with a reinforced closure.

The best prevention remains storage in closed cupboards or shelves out of reach. And finally, be careful not to unpackage household products, for example by transferring them into bottles without labels. Each year, poison control centers receive more than 6,000 calls for poisoning linked to this bad habit. And there, adults are victims of accidents just as much as children.