Almost all poisonings happen in homes. Every day, children are treated in emergency
rooms for poisonings.
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Never leave small children alone in a room with cleaning, cosmetic, laundry, or medical
products. All medicine safety tops aren't completely childproof. Some laundry or detergent
packets or pods look like candy to young children. So keep them out of sight and reach
from children.
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Keep alcohol and tobacco products out of sight and reach. Both can cause physical
damage if swallowed by a child.
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Keep medicines, vitamins, and herbal remedies out of the reach of children. Many medicines
are mildly to highly poisonous. Some medicines can kill a child. These include heart
medicine, pain medicine, sedatives, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and seizure medicine.
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Be sure you give a child the right dose of the right medicine. The dosage is usually
based on the age or weight of the child. Giving too much (overdosing) can cause serious
problems. Never give adult medicines to your child unless the dose and the medicine
are prescribed by your child's provider.
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Remove any poisonous plants from your home. These include pothos, caladium, castor
bean plant, elephant's ear, philodendron, mistletoe, holly, and dieffenbachia. These
plants can cause skin irritation, vomiting, diarrhea, confusion, and other more serious
side effects if a child eats them.
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Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that can cause sudden death. It is found
in fumes produced by vehicle engines, furnaces, stoves, lanterns, gas ranges, or by
burning charcoal and wood. Make sure you have battery-powered or battery-backup carbon
monoxide detectors in your home. Change or check the batteries in your carbon monoxide
detectors every 6 months.
Check these places in your home for dangerous products. Make sure these products are
stored away from children:
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Garage. Antifreeze, windshield cleaner, gasoline, charcoal lighter, pesticides, fertilizers,
garden chemicals, fungicides, and flea and pest powder
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Bedrooms. Cosmetics, cologne, hair spray, nail polish and remover, mothballs, medicines, and
vitamins
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Bathrooms and laundry room. Drain and toilet cleaners, bleach, disinfectants, detergents, laundry pods, and aerosol
sprays
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Kitchen. Button batteries, insect killer, metal polish, alcohol, detergents, and oven cleaner
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Home workshop. Solder, lead, cadmium, formaldehyde, solvents, paint, and paint thinner
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Pool. Chlorine, shock, pH balancers, and algaecide
Don't rely on just 1 poison control measure. To be safe: