Detergent packaged in single-load 'pods' are time-saving, but are also attractive to children who mistake the pods for treats, making this laundry aid a poisoning risk.
That warning comes from the CDC and the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC).
Laundry detergent pod exposure was responsible for nearly half of all laundry detergent-based poisonings (485 of 1,008) reported from May 17 to June 17, 2012, wrote Satish Pillai, MD, of the CDC, and colleagues in the Oct. 19 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Last month a study in Archives of Disease in Childhood said children mistake the soft packets for candy.
Of those exposures, 454 -- 98% of all laundry pod poisonings -- involved patients 5 years old or younger, and have resulted in adverse events including vomiting, mental status changes, and respiratory distress.
Laundry detergent pods are single-use, concentrated detergent capsules with a water-soluble membrane that dissolves when exposed to moisture.
The CDC and AAPCC noted four case reports of younger patients presenting with serious adverse events after biting into a laundry detergent pod in early May 2012, prior to the development of a poison control code specifically for laundry detergent pod poisonings.
All patients were 10 to 20 months old and, after biting or ingesting the contents of a laundry detergent pod, developed some combination of symptoms of intense vomiting, somnolence, lack of response, seizure-like symptoms, and respiratory distress. Three of the patients required intubation and were released within 48 hours. The fourth patient required an emergency endoscopy to treat epiglottic swelling, but did not require intubation.
Following these poisonings and subsequent serious adverse events, the agencies worked in tandem to develop a new poison control code for laundry detergent pod-related poisonings for easier tracking in the National Poison Data System. The report includes a medical outcome for the poisoning, where available, as well as whether the exposure was unintentional, route of exposure, patient age, and signs and symptoms of exposure.
After the code was implemented, the agencies reported that, in addition to pod content consumption, eye, skin, and inhalation were found to be other common routes of pod and non-pod detergent poisoning.
An analysis of all poisoning incidents showed that patients 5 years and younger were significantly more likely than older patients to become poisoned by laundry pods (P<0.001).
Compared with non-pod detergent poisonings and despite a 20% rate of no adverse events upon laundry pod exposure, patients exposed to detergent pods were significantly more likely to develop a mild to serious adverse event (P<0.001), though no poisoning cases resulted in death.
Vomiting, coughing, choking, eye irritation or pain, and drowsiness or lethargy were the most commonly reported symptoms related to detergent pod exposure.
"Healthcare providers should be aware that exposure to laundry detergent from pods might be associated with adverse health effects more often than exposure to non-pod laundry detergents," the report concluded.
In an accompanying editorial note, the authors noted that the research was limited by self-reported data, higher likelihood of poison control reports due to the newer nature of detergent pod products, varying codes for exposure type, and exclusion of reports that were not followed up on.
Cole Petrochko
Staff Writer
Cole Petrochko started his journalism career at MedPage Today in 2009, after graduating from New York University with B.A.s in Journalism and Psychology. When not writing for MedPage Today, he blogs about nerd culture, designs websites, and buys and sells collectible card game cards. He is based out of MedPage Today's Little Falls, N.J. Headquarters.
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