A study recently came out concerning household cleaners and toddlers. While the number of kids age 5 and under exposed to toxic household chemicals dropped by almost 50 percent in the last two decades, the number of injuries is still high.
Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital studied national data on 267,000 children ages 5 and under who were treated in emergency rooms for injuries with household cleaners between 1990 and 2006.
The study, found in the September issue of Pediatrics, showed that household cleaning product related injuries for kids 5 and under dropped 46 percent to almost 12,000 in 2006.
Researchers say that child-resistant packaging seems to partly responsible for the drop. But injuries from spray bottle cleaners did not drop, and the highest percentage of exposures (40 percent) came from spray bottles. The biggest reason is that spray bottles are harder to child-proof.
According to the study, cleaning products are in the top five causes of pediatric poisoning exposure, and bleach is the most common culprit.
Other than child-proof tops and keeping chemicals locked and up high, how can we keep them out of little hands and mouths?
The easiest thing to do is take them out of your home. My biggest reason for going green more than 3 years ago was the birth of our son. I was so worried that he would get into some random cleaner and get hurt. We switched to a vinegar/water cleaning solution, adding baking soda when scrubbing was needed. But we do still have some more heavy- duty cleaners in our house, like bleach.
After reading this story, I moved the bleach to the shelf over the washing machine, and plan to put a latch on our kitchen cabinet that houses the dishwashing detergent.
But if you aren’t into using those products, look for products with the Green Products Innovation Institute (GPII) seal.
The institute opened earlier this year in California and is meant to act as a clearinghouse for chemicals in the state — certifying and developing standards around chemicals.
The goal is to eliminate toxic chemicals by encouraging businesses to create products that are safe for people and the environment.
What do you do to keep chemicals out of your home?
