Consumer Home Safety Tips

PCOC Safety Tips for handling Household Chemicals

As part of our “Chem-Safe” public service campaign, Pest Control Operators of California suggest the following guidelines:

  1. Keep all chemicals and pesticides locked up and out of reach of children
  2. Use the products correctly and carefully follow the directions provided by the manufacturers
  3. Don’t saturate – using twice as much of a product does not mean it works twice as well.
  4. Don’t put products in unlabelled bottles or cans – keep them in their original containers.
  5. Never play chemist – don’t mix products together because poisonous or explosive chemical reactions may occur
  6. Always wear protective equipment such as goggles and gloves when using products that are harm
  7. Avoid breathing mists or vapors, especially from aerosol products.
  8. Keep children and pets away from the area being treated or cleaned
  9. Wash carefully after handling chemicals and pesticides
  10. Dispose of the products carefully – containers tossed in the trash may still contain harmful amounts of the product.

Poison Control Center estimates report that more than 90% of all poisonings are accidental. Common household products such as cleaners, detergents, mouthwashes, and even plants are involved in more than 50% of all poisonings. The remainder comes from common pharmaceutical products—cough and cold medicines, vitamins, and prescription drugs.

Accidental overdoses of iron-containing supplements are the leading cause of pediatric poisoning deaths under age six in the United States. FDA has recently passed legislation to ensure that health-care providers and consumers are aware of the dangers associated with iron overdoses, including pediatric multivitamins that contain iron.

The kitchen, bathroom, and garage are the areas of the home that are most commonly associated with accidental poisonings. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission(CPSC) has developed a series of checklists and recommendations to correct situations that may lead to poisonings.

The Kitchen:

  1. Harmful products such as furniture polish drain cleaner, and some oven cleaners should have safety packaging.
  2. Store dangerous products in their original containers. Labels on the original containers often give first aid information in case of accidental ingestion. And if products are stored in containers like drinking glasses or milk bottles, a curious child may think it is food and try it out.
  3. Put potentially harmful products up as high as possible and use childproof locks. Locking all the cabinets is the best poison prevention.
  4. Do not use ceramic ware for food storage. It can contain high levels of lead, which, in large quantities, is toxic to children. Although U.S. ceramic ware now meets Federal standards for lead content, foreign countries each have their own set of regulations. As a rule, stop using any ceramic item if the glaze shows a dusty or chalky gray residue after washing.

The Bathroom:

  1. Always close a medication container as soon as you’ve finished using it. Use only child-secure packaging and immediately put it away where children can’t reach it, even by climbing.
  2. Keep all medication in its original container. In case of accidental overdose, the pharmacist can trace the ingredients. Without the original label and container, you can’t be sure of what you’re taking. Remember that aspirin looks very much like roach poison tablets.
  3. Keep medicines in a locked medicine cabinet, never on a countertop or nightstand.
  4. Try to keep accurate track of how much and which medicine you have on hand. Keep an inventory of drugs in and out.
  5. Be especially careful with iron-containing medications. Your clue is either the word “iron” or “ferrous” on the label.
  6. Never refer to medicine as candy. Remember that there is no such thing as a completely childproof medicine cap. They are child-resistant, which doesn’t mean that they can’t be pried off, banged off, chewed off, or otherwise removed by an enterprising child. Your only safe bet is to put medications where they are absolutely inaccessible to children.
  7. Always close a medication container as soon as you’ve finished using it. Use only child-secure packaging and immediately put it away where children can’t reach it, even by climbing.
  8. Keep all medication in its original container. In case of accidental overdose, the pharmacist can trace the ingredients. Without the original label and container, you can’t be sure of what you’re taking. Remember that aspirin looks very much like roach poison tablets.
  9. Keep medicines in a locked medicine cabinet, never on a countertop or nightstand.
  10. Try to keep accurate track of how much and which medicine you have on hand. Keep an inventory of drugs in and out.
  11. Be especially careful with iron-containing medications. Your clue is either the word “iron” or “ferrous” on the label.
  12. Never refer to medicine as candy. Remember that there is no such thing as a completely childproof medicine cap. They are child-resistant, which doesn’t mean that they can’t be pried off, banged off, chewed off, or otherwise removed by an enterprising child. Your only safe bet is to put medications where they are absolutely inaccessible to children.

The Garage:

  1. Buy the least hazardous products that will serve your purpose. For products such as charcoal lighter, turpentine, and paint thinners, buy only as much as you need and safely dispose of what you don’t use. NEVER transfer these substances to cups, soft drink bottles, or milk cartons. Children associate cups and bottles with food and may just decide to taste them.
  2. Never run your car, a gas barbecue, or a kerosene heater without proper ventilation. Even if it’s cold, open the windows just a crack. Children are very susceptible to carbon monoxide poisoning, which is dangerous because the symptoms are so vague. Excessive accumulation build-up of carbon monoxide can cause suffocation.
  3. Store antifreeze and windshield washing fluid out of children’s reach in a locked cabinet.
  4. Buy the least hazardous products that will serve your purpose. For products such as charcoal lighter, turpentine, and paint thinners, buy only as much as you need and safely dispose of what you don’t use. NEVER transfer these substances to cups, soft drink bottles, or milk cartons. Children associate cups and bottles with food and may just decide to taste them.
  5. Never run your car, a gas barbecue, or a kerosene heater without proper ventilation. Even if it’s cold, open the windows just a crack. Children are very susceptible to carbon monoxide poisoning, which is dangerous because the symptoms are so vague. Excessive accumulation build-up of carbon monoxide can cause suffocation.
  6. Store antifreeze and windshield washing fluid out of children’s reach in a locked cabinet.

Your Liquor Cabinet:

Alcohol can cause serious side effects in children. Because of their small size, children are more sensitive to the toxic effects of alcohol. Don’t leave liquor in glasses after parties—dump it immediately. Alcohol-laced products, including mouthwash, aftershaves, cough syrup, and cologne can cause the same effect. Notify your local poison center immediately if you suspect that a child has consumed alcohol.

Teach Your Children

Scare them if you must. Design a sticker or symbol that your children will recognize as “hazardous—do not touch.” Then place it on every potentially toxic product in your home.

“It’s simply not enough to teach children to keep away from areas where dangerous products are stored,” says C. Fred DiBona, of Independence Blue Cross (PA). “Even though a child may keep away from the medicine cabinet they can still eat an aspirin from their mother’s purse, drink drain cleaner from a bottle left on a counter, or ingest gas left in a bright container in the garage.”

Post the poison control number by every phone in the house, and program all emergency numbers into at least one telephone in the house. Teach your children their phone numbers and address, and how to use 911 and the pre-programmed emergency numbers.

Antidotes:

If you suspect poisoning, remain calm. If you suspect a medication overdose, call your poison control center for household chemicals, follow the first-aid instructions on the label and then call the poison control center. (In California the phone number is 800 876-4766) The most important thing is to not waste time.

The operator will need to know your child’s height, weight, age, and any pre-existing health conditions. You’ll be asked to provide information about the suspected substance involved, the exposure route (swallowed? inhaled? splashed in the eyes?), and if your child has vomited. Don’t second-guess the instructions of the poison center. They are trained to provide accurate, timely information that can save your child’s life.

Some medical experts recommend that you keep syrup of ipecac, which induces vomiting, in the medicine cabinet. Some poison control experts also recommend having activated charcoal on hand. Activated charcoal absorbs poison, and prevents it from spreading throughout the body. But not all toxic substances should be vomited up, so “it’s important to call your local poison control center before giving your child any at-home antidote,” says Robert Mueller, poison control specialist at the Virginia Poison Center in Richmond, VA.

The first poison control center opened in 1953. Since then, childhood poisonings have dramatically decreased. But that doesn’t mean you should become complacent. Children under five years of age are the most vulnerable when it comes to household poisons. It’s part of the care taking responsibility to create an environment that is as safe as humanly possible.