Packaging of acidic and alkaline liquid and cleaning agents are mandated to have a ‘double lock lid’ to protect children, said Dr. Hedayat Hosseini, director general of food and cosmetic products at the Food and Drug Administration.
“Manufacturers of detergent products have also been instructed to stop using attractive colors in packaging as well as added aromas,” he said, IRNA reported.
Detergent bottle lids in attractive colors and content are a potential danger to children since they can easily be mistaken for candy. It can take just a few seconds for small children to grab the packages and swallow the contents which contain toxic chemicals, or get the chemicals in their eyes.
“Given the high number of calls to emergency centers of pediatric hospitals about kids swallowing toxic liquids such as detergents and pipe cleaning solutions, the FDA issued a directive mandating all producers to create safer packaging,” Hosseini said.
Children who swallow detergent can immediately go into respiratory distress and vomit violently. If their eye accidentally comes into contact with the pods, it can cause severe irritation or even temporary loss of vision.
Between 2012 and 2013, 17,230 children under the age of six were accidentally poisoned by cleaning products worldwide, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics. That is about one child every hour. Of those cases, 4.4% were hospitalized and 7.5% experienced a moderate or major medical outcome.
