Here are some child poisoning facts and statistics:
Child Poisoning Facts:
Child poisoning fact #1:
Certain heart and pain medications are so potent that a single pill is capable of killing a small child.
Child poisoning fact #2:
Newer medications such as painkillers that contain sustained release packets are especially dangerous, because they contain a much higher amount of medicine per pill. Children often bite into them, which releases all the medication at once.
Child poisoning fact #3:
About 90% of child poisonings occur in the home, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Child poisoning fact #4:
Overall, accidental poisoning is the #2 cause of unintentional injury death in the United States, second behind car crashes, according to the CDC.
Child poisoning fact #5:
Fatalities aren’t the only risk. Many toxins can cause permanent damage to a child’s organs and permanently alter their life, so the statistics on death do not do the danger justice. Children are also more sensitive to toxins, because of their smaller size and immature organs.
Child Poisoning Statistics
Child poisoning statistics #1:
Across the United States, around 800,000 kids are rushed to the emergency room each year because of accidental poisoning. Of these, around 30 children will die, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Child poisoning statistics #2:
Around 70% of non-fatal poisonings involve children ages 1 to 2.
Child poisoning statistics #3:
Overall, around 24 million people call poison control centers every year. Although most of these accidental poisonings do not turn out to be serious, it illustrates just how common accidental poisonings among kids actually are.
Child poisoning statistics #4:
280,000 people called poison control centers in 2005 related to pain medications. Many of these occur when kids ingest their grandparent’s medication, which are often removed from their childproof containers and carried around in a purse or in daily pill dispensers.
Child poisoning statistics #5:
Around 100,000 children end up in the E.R. each year after ingesting medication belonging to grandparents, and such cases of exposure to medicine through grandparents account for as many as 10-20% of all accidental medication poisonings.
Child poisoning statistics #6:
Every year around 12,000 kids under the age of five are treated in emergency rooms for exposure to household cleaning products. Of those injured, around 6% face a life-threatening situation or suffer long-term disabilities from their poisoning.
Child poisoning statistics #7:
Of the 2.4 million people who swallow or have contact with a poison each year, more than half are under age six.
Child poisoning statistics #8:
Around 5,700 children end up in the emergency room each year because caregivers accidentally give the child an overdose of over-the-counter medications.
Child poisoning statistics #9:
One in nine kids under the age of eighteen abuse prescription painkillers, according to Sandra Schneider of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Child poisoning statistics #10:
It’s not all bad: Thanks in a large part to better pill caps and parental awareness, child poisoning deaths have fallen by 80% since their 1972 levels.