WIREDGOV

Parents are being warned of the major health risks of children mistaking potentially harmful dishwasher and laundry capsules for sweets, after figures showed at least one case is happening every day.

The Local Government Association, which represents more than 370 councils with responsibility for children's public health, says the tablets should be kept well out of children's reach, with hundreds of incidents reported every year.

While products display safety warnings, many parents are unaware of the dangers of a child swallowing one of the tablets.

The liquid or gel detergent capsules are often small and brightly coloured, deceiving children into thinking they're sweets.

Yet the tablets contain a cocktail of harmful chemicals which when ingested can cause serious harm, such as burn-related injuries, internal swelling, breathing difficulties, or the risk of falling into a coma. Exposure to the eye can also cause damage, including temporary blindness.

The LGA has joined forces with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to raise awareness of the possible dangers and this growing problem ahead of Child Safety Week, which runs from 6 to 12 June.

Latest figures show that there is more than one incident every day involving laundry capsules and a child, usually under five-years-old.

A survey by the UK's National Poison Information Service found there were more than 2,000 recorded cases in five years. Four children had breathing difficulties, one had a burned airway and four needed the support of a ventilator.

According to the most recent yearly breakdown of data on reported exposure in the UK, there were 404 cases in 2014, 424 in 2013, 422 in 2012, 434 in 2011 and 486 in 2010.

LGA Community Wellbeing spokeswoman, Cllr Izzi Seccombe, said:

"Councils with their responsibility for public health have concerns over the growing number of incidents involving a child and laundry capsules.

"Their brightly coloured appearance and small size mean a lot of children mistake them for sweets. If they bite into the capsule it will cause a cocktail of harmful chemicals to dissolve in their mouth and be ingested, causing serious harm.

"Keeping these tablets in a place where children can't access them, either locked away or in a cupboard where they can't reach, would significantly reduce the chances of a young child getting hold of them.

"The frequency with which these incidents are happening – at least once a day – is deeply alarming and yet they can be easily prevented with a few simple steps of caution."

Sheila Merrill, Public Health Adviser at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said:

"Children are naturally inquisitive and tend to explore the world with their mouths – coupled with the fact liquid laundry capsules can be mistaken for sweets, and that the casing dissolves in contact with saliva, it makes it important to safely store them out of the reach of children.

"All household chemicals should be stored either up high or in a lockable cupboard. Keep an eye out if you are doing the laundry while children are present too, as it only takes a second for them to get hold of one."

Case studies

Nottingham
Data shows 390 children were admitted to Nottingham University Hospital in 2014 for poisonings from consuming household cleaning products. Nottingham City and Nottingham County councils launched a joint strategy to reduce avoidable injuries in children. 

Bradford
Between 2012 and 2014, 161 children under 10 (146 under five) were admitted to Airedale General Hospital A&E as a result of poisoning from household cleaning products such as laundry capsules. Bradford Council and the Bradford Safeguarding Children Board backed the campaign by RoSPA to raise awareness of the potential dangers.

Newcastle
There were 180 children aged five and under that attended A&E in Newcastle during 2014/15 as a result of accidental poisoning, which included cases involving household cleaning products. These young patients accounted for one in every 25 cases (four per cent) of all emergency injuries to children aged five and under treated in A&E during that year.

Notes to editors

1. There was a total of 2,170 incidents in the UK relating to liquid laundry detergent capsules over the last five years

2. Child safety week