Poisoning Advice

Keep all medicines, cleaning products, cosmetics, yard chemicals and other potential poisons up and out of the reach of children.

Never remove poisons from their original container.

Always read labels before administering medicine or using household products.

Use child-resistant packaging whenever possible.

Protect your pets from poisons.

Cleaning products, household chemicals

Never put cleaning products in old soda bottles or containers that were once used for food.

Never put roach powders or rat poison on the floors of your home.

Store household cleaning products and aerosol sprays in a high cabinet far from reach.

Don't keep any cleaning supplies, including dishwasher detergent and dishwashing liquids, under the sink.

Use safety latches for all cabinets containing hazardous substances.

Keep hazardous automotive and gardening products in a securely locked area (ideally in your garage, if you have one).

When you're cleaning or using household chemicals, never leave the bottles unattended if there's a small child present.

Medications

Don't rely on packaging to protect your children — child-resistant packaging does not mean childproof.

Never give medication to a child in the dark: You may give the wrong dosage or even the wrong medication.

Never leave vitamin bottles, aspirin bottles or other medications on kitchen tables, countertops, bedside tables or dresser tops. Small children may decide to try to copy adults and help themselves.

Never tell a child that medicine is candy.

Store all medications — prescription and nonprescription — in a locked cabinet, far from a child's reach. Even items that seem harmless, such as toothpaste, can be extremely dangerous if ingested in large quantities by children. Just because cabinets are up high doesn't mean kids can't get their hands on what's in them — children will climb up (using the toilet and countertops) to get to items in the medicine cabinet.

Make sure purses and bags — yours and guests' — that could contain poisonous items such as medications are kept out of the reach of children at all times.

Always keep pills and liquids in their original containers.

In the event of accidental ingestion, call the Poison Control Center at (800) 222-1222 and follow instructions by the Poison Control Center staff. Do not induce vomiting unless directed to, and bring all pill containers with you to the hospital if you require immediate medical care.

Alcohol Poisoning

Don't leave alcoholic drinks where children can reach them. Take special care during parties — guests may not be conscious of where they've left their drinks. Clean up promptly after a party.

Keep bottles of alcohol in a locked cabinet far from a child's reach.

Keep mouthwash out of the reach of children. Many mouthwashes contain substantial amounts of alcohol.

Food extracts, such as vanilla and almond, may contain alcohol and can be harmful to children.

Other items

Never leave cosmetics and toiletries within easy reach of children. Be especially cautious with perfume, hair dye, hairspray, nail and shoe polish, and nail polish remover.

Keep your child away from houseplants — and plants around your yard — that can be poisonous. Either put plants out of your child's reach or buy only plants that are nonpoisonous. A few examples of toxic houseplants include rhododendron, English ivy, lily of the valley and holiday plants such as holly and mistletoe.

Discard used button cell batteries (like those in watches) safely, and store any unused ones far from children's reach (alkaline substances are poisonous).

Be prepared

More tips for making your home safer:

Make a first aid kit and keep emergency instructions inside.

Install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.

To check your childproofing efforts, it's a good idea to get down on your hands and knees in every room of your home to see things from your child's perspective. Be aware of your child's surroundings and what might be potentially dangerous.

More poisoning advice:

Contact or absorption of poisons can cause rapid death or impairment. Agents that act on the nervous system can paralyze in seconds or less, and include both biologically derived neurotoxins and so-called nerve gases, which may be synthesized for warfare or industry. Inhaled or ingested cyanide almost instantly starves the body of energy by poisoning mitochondria and the synthesis of ATP. Intravenous injection of an unnaturally high concentration of potassium chloride, such as in the execution of prisoners in parts of the United States, quickly stops the heart by eliminating the cell potential necessary for muscle contraction. Such rapid reactions are often called acute poisoning.

Most (but not all) pesticides are created to act as poisons to target organisms, although acute or less observable chronic poisoning can also occur to non-target organism, including the humans who apply the pesticides and other beneficial organisms.

A poison may also act slowly. This is known as chronic poisoning and is most common for poisons that bioaccumulate. Examples of these types of poisons are mercury and lead.

Many substances regarded as poisons are toxic only indirectly. An example is "wood alcohol" or methanol, which is not poisonous itself, but is chemically converted to toxic formaldehyde in the liver. Many drug molecules are made toxic in the liver, and the genetic variability of certain liver enzymes makes the toxicity of many compounds differ between one individual and the next.

The study of the symptoms, mechanisms, treatment and diagnosis of biological poisoning is known as toxicology.

Exposure to radioactive substances can produce radiation poisoning, an unrelated phenomenon.

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Poisoning Advice