William Penn Life, 1971 (6. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

1971-02-01 / 1. szám

by the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

To prevent accidental poisoning, learn the safe use and storage of common household products. It would perhaps surprise you to know how many such items are poison hazards for elders and especially to small children. Household chemicals are so familiar to us, and we have used them for so long without mishap, that we tend to become careless. We clean our homes, launder our clothes, and open our drains with poisonous chemicals. We spray our flowers and shrubs, control weeds in our lawns, and exterminate pests with poisons. Unfortunately some of these are packaged without sufficient warnings.

All of us take medicines periodically without realizing that, while the prescribed dose may relieve our aches and pains, a larger amount often can be fatal.

Each year, according to U. S. Public Health Service, it is estimated that approximately half a million people take poison, either intentionally or by accident. Approximately 1,700 die from poisoning in the home. Four hundred of the victims are children too young to go to school or to understand the meaning of poison. Over half of the 1,300 other poison victims are adults who

should know better.

You can help protect your child from poisoning by understanding the dangers he is likely to encounter. Between ages one and two, the child is beginning to investigate. His surroundings are new, and exploring them is a great adventure. He enjoys climbing— by getting on a chair he can easily reach a bottle of floor wax on a kitchen cabinet. He loves opening doors and drawers—sleeping pills kept in a bedside nightstand or mothballs stored in a bottom dresser drawer come within reach of his tiny fingers. He wants to know how things taste and will put any object into his mouth.

From two to three the child is impatient with restraint. He does not like being told “No” and your warnings about poison may go unheeded. Lightning fast, he likes to imitate and wants to do things alone: Mommy and Daddy take medicine so he tries it, too—when you’re not looking. He is beginning to understand, but still hasn’t learned what is dangerous.

The youngster aged three to six starts to explore the neighborhood and may often be out of sight. He should be cautioned about the dangers of gasoline, kerosene, auto waxes and polishes he may find in

garages or tool sheds. Weed killers, insect sprays, and ant or roach poisons should be locked up. Check on his whereabouts and activities frequently.

But knowing your child and his habits is only one part of the problem. The danger of accidental poisoning is greatly increased by the vast and bewildering variety of potentially poisonous substances.

There are a quarter of a million trade-name chemical products currently at use in home and industry. Modern technology adds hundreds of new commodities to the shelves each year. Older products are reissued with changes in their chemical make-up. In the cosmetics field alone, as many as 1000 to 2000 new items appear each year, many disappearing shortly thereafter.

There are several lists of basic chemicals that can be toxic or hazardous. But no comprehensive list exists of chemical mixtures or compounds. One study rated the toxicity of over 15,000 household and commercial chemical products, excluding drugs. The investigators concluded that 79 percent of the products should be considered moderately toxic or worse.

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