The Hindu : New Delhi News : Poison for children at home

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 22, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Poison for children at home

Staff Reporter

"Children under six are accidentally poisoned when they pick up objects, including floor cleaner, ant poison, moth balls, analgesic, tar, wax candles, all of which are noted to cause poisoning.'' Survey points out highest poisoning cases due to household objects

NEW DELHI: If you have a child under six years of age, the National Poisons Information Centre (NPIC) at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here advises a red alert at all times at home.

With children accounting for as many as 33 per cent of the poisoning cases in the country, doctors have advised stricter parenting at home. According to NPIC experts, the most innocuous looking thing at home could have you rushing with your child to the nearby hospital.

Turning a home into a virtual "poison maze'' are things like Savlon, Dettol, detergents, Good Knight, All-Out, Lakshman Rekha, ballpoint pen ink, aluminium foils, lipstick, starch, clay, mercury (from thermometer), naphthalene, silica gel and even cigarette ash.

A survey done at NPIC of patients calling in with poisoning cases, revealed that a worryingly large number was that of children under six. Also, their numbers grew from 1999 onwards and touched a record high last year. According to figures released at the symposium-cum-workshop on Wednesday on strengthening of poisons information centres in India, poisoning due to household objects were the highest and stood at 468 cases, followed by wrong consumption of drugs, 91 cases, industrial chemical poisoning, 79 cases. Forty cases were due to unknown reasons and 53 due to miscellaneous causes.

"There is an urgent need to introduce central registration of all poisoning cases being reported from across the country. We are also looking at the causes to understand and guide people on how to protect their children,'' says Dr. Sharda S. Peshin of AIIMS. "Children under six are accidentally poisoned when they pick up objects, including floor cleaner, ant poison, moth balls, oral contraceptives, analgesic, tar, wax candles, all of which are noted to cause poisoning.''

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