YUMA, Ariz- Doctors nationwide are warning parents about those popular detergent packets that have been eaten by many children.
PIO Mike Erfert from the Yuma Fire Department said, “We’ve had in the Yuma area. Had an incident like this approximately 2 months ago we had an report of an 11 month old that ate one of the laundry packets.”
A new study shows an increase in the number of children getting hurt after biting into the colorful packets.
According to the Journal of Pediatrics, it shows there were more than 62,000 detergent-related calls to poison control centers in 2013 and 2014. There was a 17 percent increase in calls specifically about laundry packets.
Erfert said, “We’re seeing with the pods is that it’s very very concentrated and that could be much more capable of causing harm.”
One parent said, “That stuff you’re supposed to put away where the kids can’t reach it.”
Another parent adds, “If it looks like candy well then the kids going to think it’s candy.”
Erfert adds, “Making sure that you never treat medicine like candy or tell children that medicine is candy. Making sure that all household cleaning products stay in their container. There’s a lot of products out now that are very colorful and look like soft drinks and putting them in something that’s not the original container and be very hazardous.”
One dad says when he was growing up there wasn’t anything that tasted like candy and is concerned about colorful packets and medicines now feeling and tasting like gummy bears.
One father said, “We didn’t have it when I was growing up so we had to take it with whatever and it tasted bad. Now they’re making it a lot easier for the kids to take medicine where they’re making it look like it’s candy when it’s not, so it’s bad.”