For Immediate Release
April 25, 2007
Contact Information
Maxine Webb
410-300-9423
Reduce Your Child’s Chances of Pesticide Poisoning
( April 25, 2007) A five-year-old boy drinks bleach from a soda bottle that he finds under the bathroom sink.…
A three-year-old girl tries to spray her hair like mommy, but sprays aerosol disinfectant in her eyes instead...
A baby who just began crawling eats green pellets from behind that sofa. They look like candy, but are really rat poison.
These are scenarios that poison centers across the country hear every day. Every 13 seconds a poison center receives a call about someone being exposed to a poison. Forty percent of those cases involve a child under the age of five. According to the National Safety Council, more than 50 percent of the two million poisoning incidents each year involve children less than six years of age. In addition, the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported more than 70,000 calls made to poison centers with concerns about potential exposure to common household pesticides (potential exposures do not necessarily represent a poisoning).
These figures show the need for everyone to take precaution and lock up household pesticides and chemicals in a high cabinet out of the reach of children.
During the month of March, National Poison Prevention Week is observed to increase awareness of the danger to children of unintentional poisonings from pesticides and household products, and to encourage parents and caregivers to lock up products that could potentially harm children.
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed measures to reduce risks to children associated with household rodenticides, pesticides used to control rodents. These products are an important tool for public health pest control, but current marketing and use practices have been associated with unintentional exposure of thousands of children each year. Children in low-income, inner-city families are particularly at risk since pest pressures tend to be greater in densely populated areas. To minimize children’s exposure, EPA is proposing that all rodenticide bait products be marketed in tamper-resistant bait stations with solid bait blocks (as opposed to small pellets that children can ingest).
Poisonings can occur within a blink of an eye, when an adult is distracted and not paying attention to curious children. Fortunately, most poisonings can be prevented. EPA recommends the following prevention tips.
Tips to Prevent Poisonings
These simple steps can help you save children from poisonings around the home:
Read the label first and follow the directions to the letter, including all precautions and restrictions.
Always store pesticides away from the reach of children, in a locked cabinet or garden shed.
Use child-resistant packaging properly by closing the container tightly after use.
Before applying pesticides or other household chemicals, remove children and their toys, as well as pets, from the area.
If your use of a pesticide or other household chemical is interrupted (perhaps by a phone call), properly re-close the container and remove it from children’s reach. Always use household products that come in child-resistant packaging.
Never transfer pesticides to other containers that a child may associate with food or drink (like soda bottles).
Never use illegal pesticides (e.g.,Tres Pasitos, Insecticide Chalk, or Tempo). These products have not been reviewed by EPA. Always look for an EPA Registration ID number on the label.
Never place rodent or insect baits where small children can get to them.
Keep the emergency phone number, 1-800-222-1222, of the poison control center near your telephone.
Parents and community organizations can obtain additional prevention materials, including the “Ten Tips to Protect Children from Pesticide and Lead Poisonings,” by calling EPA's Environmental Publications line at 1-800-490-9198 or visiting by http: www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/ppweek-lockit.htm
A three-year-old girl tries to spray her hair like mommy, but sprays aerosol disinfectant in her eyes instead...
A baby who just began crawling eats green pellets from behind that sofa. They look like candy, but are really rat poison.
These are scenarios that poison centers across the country hear every day. Every 13 seconds a poison center receives a call about someone being exposed to a poison. Forty percent of those cases involve a child under the age of five. According to the National Safety Council, more than 50 percent of the two million poisoning incidents each year involve children less than six years of age. In addition, the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported more than 70,000 calls made to poison centers with concerns about potential exposure to common household pesticides (potential exposures do not necessarily represent a poisoning).
These figures show the need for everyone to take precaution and lock up household pesticides and chemicals in a high cabinet out of the reach of children.
During the month of March, National Poison Prevention Week is observed to increase awareness of the danger to children of unintentional poisonings from pesticides and household products, and to encourage parents and caregivers to lock up products that could potentially harm children.
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed measures to reduce risks to children associated with household rodenticides, pesticides used to control rodents. These products are an important tool for public health pest control, but current marketing and use practices have been associated with unintentional exposure of thousands of children each year. Children in low-income, inner-city families are particularly at risk since pest pressures tend to be greater in densely populated areas. To minimize children’s exposure, EPA is proposing that all rodenticide bait products be marketed in tamper-resistant bait stations with solid bait blocks (as opposed to small pellets that children can ingest).
Poisonings can occur within a blink of an eye, when an adult is distracted and not paying attention to curious children. Fortunately, most poisonings can be prevented. EPA recommends the following prevention tips.
Tips to Prevent Poisonings
These simple steps can help you save children from poisonings around the home:
Read the label first and follow the directions to the letter, including all precautions and restrictions.
Always store pesticides away from the reach of children, in a locked cabinet or garden shed.
Use child-resistant packaging properly by closing the container tightly after use.
Before applying pesticides or other household chemicals, remove children and their toys, as well as pets, from the area.
If your use of a pesticide or other household chemical is interrupted (perhaps by a phone call), properly re-close the container and remove it from children’s reach. Always use household products that come in child-resistant packaging.
Never transfer pesticides to other containers that a child may associate with food or drink (like soda bottles).
Never use illegal pesticides (e.g.,Tres Pasitos, Insecticide Chalk, or Tempo). These products have not been reviewed by EPA. Always look for an EPA Registration ID number on the label.
Never place rodent or insect baits where small children can get to them.
Keep the emergency phone number, 1-800-222-1222, of the poison control center near your telephone.
Parents and community organizations can obtain additional prevention materials, including the “Ten Tips to Protect Children from Pesticide and Lead Poisonings,” by calling EPA's Environmental Publications line at 1-800-490-9198 or visiting by http: www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/ppweek-lockit.htm
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