Editor’s note: My cousin’s child is still suffering from this toxic garbage.
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Also here’s a home made healthy laundry detergent alternative for just pennies here. Remember the pods can potentially cause CANCER and not just eye problems!
A new study published this week in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology found that from 2012 to 2015, the number of chemical burns to the eye linked to laundry detergent packets rose more than 30 times among young children. (The single-dose detergent packs or pods entered the mass market in 2012.)
From the article:
“Each pod consists of a detergent mixture wrapped in a water-soluble film, made up of a proprietary polyvinyl alcohol polymer,” said Eric J. Moorhead, president and principal scientist of Good Chemistry LLC, a consulting firm.
“The liquid detergent in the pods is not the same as regular liquid detergent. It has a higher concentration of surfactants, chemicals that are responsible for stain removal,” said Moorhead, who was not involved in the new study. “At high concentrations, these ordinarily safe ingredients can cause irritation, especially in sensitive areas like the eyes.”
If a pod breaks and the contents leak onto a child’s hand, and they then rub their eyes, they can seriously injure themselves. Perhaps since the pods are so brightly colored toddlers mistake them for candy or toys. But, the detergent inside the pods are some of the worst chemicals that an eye can be exposed to. In fact, as detergents are alkaline in nature they penetrate deeper and burn faster- they are even considered more severe than acid burns to the eye.
Dr. R. Sterling Haring of Johns Hopkins University says that because the cornea doesn’t have blood vessels, it doesn’t heal well, so there is a high risk of long-term vision impairment.
More from the article:
“We’d done another study a few months ago that showed that small children are at highest risk for all types of chemical ocular burns, and that kind of flew in the face of conventional wisdom,” he said. “They always thought that working-age men were the highest risk group: working in factories, splashing chemical in their eyes.”
The researchers were shocked to find that young children have a 50% higher risk than the highest-risk adult. All thanks to laundry detergents. (Thankfully, many companies have launched ad campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers and they’ve made the packaging more difficult for small children to open.)
Keeping kids safe
To keep kids safe the first thing parents should do it keep the pods out of reach. That means up high and away from toddlers and preschoolers. It also wouldn’t hurt to show them the pods and talk about how dangerous they can be. However, if a child does get detergent in their eye, it should be immediately irrigated. To properly irrigate, put their eye under cool water, under the faucet, and flush it for 20 minutes. Next, call call the emergency room.
Kids are never to young to be taught about their environment, especially when there are harmful chemicals present.
