I love my daughter more than life itself, but, oh, the laundry that kid creates.
Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate that parenthood would make me a slave to my washing machine.
Then again, I never dreamed that I would one day have to padlock my laundry detergent in order to keep my kid alive.
Apparently, convenience comes with a price.
According to doctors across the country, those new mini laundry detergent pods could do more harm than good, especially if you have curious, young children at home.
The Associated Press recently published an in-depth report on the alarmingly high number of children who’ve been confusing the tiny, brightly colored detergent packets with candy.
“If you look at the Tide Pods, they’re bright blue and bright red and they look very similar to some of the ribbon candy,” Julie Weber, director of the Missouri Poison Control Center told the AP.
According to reports, nearly 250 cases of kids swallowing detergent pods have been reported to poison control centers since the beginning of the year.
Fortunately, none of the kids who have swallowed the pods have died. However, ingesting the detergent can cause serious injuries including breathing problems and intestinal damage. Considering that a single bite-sized pod contains a full cup’s worth of laundry detergent, it’s no wonder kids need to be hospitalized after ingesting it.
Tide and Purex are among the most popular brands of the new detergent pods. The lightweight, plastic packets have a colorful exterior and an attractive swirl-like design. The single-use pods dissolve in water and are intended for use in washing machines in place of liquid or powder laundry detergent.
Following the rash of kids being harmed at the hands of these detergent pods, officials at Procter and Gamble, the parent company of Tide, claim they are working with poison control centers to make it clear to parents that there are risks involved in using the palm-sized pods to get their family’s clothes clean.
“The packs themselves are safe, regardless of who manufactures them, provided that they are used for their intended purpose,” Procter and Gamble execs said. “The risk becomes when they’re left like any other household product within reach of small, inquisitive hands.”
Does the fear of your child swallowing a detergent pod make you think twice about how you do laundry?
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