The danger hiding in your laundry room

Mom, a new threat is on the horizon for your little one: laundry detergent pods.

The small, colorful squares seem innocent enough: pop them into your laundry and you don’t have to bother and fuss with measuring soap or liquid detergent.  Unfortunately, the danger is very real for our little ones.

For years, accidental ingestion of laundry detergent has been common among kids. But this is different — laundry pods have highly concentrated chemicals in them and toddlers who love to put anything and everything into their mouths seem to find them irresistible. Many children are mistaking the brightly colored pods as yummy treats (they smell good, too).

Just how are our children at risk?

According to Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, “Sometimes the chemicals get into the eyes, sometimes they are swallowed. And if they are swallowed, they can cause severe burns to the esophagus and the stomach.”

Wholesale high quality laundry detergent pods

That is what happened to 8 month-old Cate from New York. On Today Parents, mom Jill Koziol placed a detergent pod on the hamper for her husband to take to the laundry room. She turned for a split second and little Cate put the pod in her mouth and began to gag. Knowing her daughter was in distress, Koziol took her to the ER for observation. Thank heavens they did. Within a few hours, Cate was wheezing and struggling to breathe.

The little girl spent the next two days intubated in the pediatric intensive care unit. It was a scary situation but thankfully, Cate pulled through and is back to normal.

Still, thousands of children under the age of 6 are getting into trouble with detergent pods. Most — nearly 80 percent — of the children were reported to have ingested a pod. Nearly two-thirds of the children were under 2.

What is a mom to do?

It goes without saying that we should always place hazardous items out of kids’ reach, but accidents happen. Are laundry pods even worth the risk? I would think twice about purchasing them if I had toddlers in the home — the risk is too great. It wouldn’t hurt to use powder or liquid detergent for a while.