Household Poison Safety Reminder

Household Poison Safety Reminder

At the 1999 BabyFaire in Atlanta, I spoke with Dr. Gaylord Lopez, Director of the Georgia Poison Center. We spoke about the dangers of “look-alike” poisons in the home. He related the story of an unfortunate young child that wanted to sprinkle parmesan cheese on some pasta who instead sprinkled from a similar-appearing canister of Comet cleanser, suffering esophageal burns. Another child reached to drink from what appeared to be a plastic bottle of a sports drink, only to take a swig from a bottle of Pinesol. Other children have been similarly confused (and died) after drinking 8 ounces of mouthwash.

Our conversation was a strong reminder that the attractive colors and packaging of our great cleaning supplies and medicines make it even more important to store these items safely out of reach.

Dr. Greene is a practicing physician, author, national and international TEDx speaker, and global health advocate. He is a graduate of Princeton University and University of California San Francisco.

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