Children Bite Liquitabs Thinking They are Sweets, Get Burned Instead!

By Sir Topham Hatt
in Real World News

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Grand Master

Sir Topham Hatt

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NHS Glasgow issues liquitabs alert after children burned

Five children suffering from chemical burns have been admitted to a Glasgow hospital this year alone.

Doctors are warning about the dangers of liquitabs used in washing machines and dishwashers, after treating some children for near fatal injuries.

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Dr Lyndsay Fraser, from the hospital's ear nose and throat unit, said: "We have known for some time about the risk of eye injuries from kids squeezing these liquitabs until they burst.

"What we have seen more recently is that children are biting into the tablets, presumably because they think they are sweets as they have the same soft texture and bright colouring."

The medic added: "Once the breathing tube has been inserted, children can be on a ventilator for anything up to two weeks whilst the swelling settles and one child so far has required further surgery to repair the damage caused by the liquitab. The boxes they come in really should be child proof and I hope manufacturers do something about this as I wouldn't want this to happen to any other little girl or boy?

Dr Fraser said: "Most parents are not aware of the dangers of these common household items, commonly storing them in unlocked cupboards within potential reach of their child.

"It is important parents realise that these liquid capsules are dangerous chemicals and they should be kept locked away so children can't reach them."

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Shannon Hutchison backed the hospital's safety campaign after her daughter Orla swallowed the contents of a liquitab at the age of seven months.

She said: "Orla was at my sister's house playing with my two-year-old nephew who managed to get hold of one of these liquitabs.

"He thought it was a sweetie because it was bright and like a jelly so he gave it to Orla who bit into it.

"Immediately we realised there was a problem as she was going in and out of consciousness so phoned an ambulance right away, it was terrifying. I'm just so lucky to still have my little girl."

Since the incident, Shannon said she had been much more careful about where all her family are keeping liquitabs.

"To kids they do look like bright sweeties and they are not in a sealed box, kids can get into them so easily and I had no idea what could happen until I saw what happened to Orla," she said.

"When we got to hospital the doctors told me they see this two or three a year. Now I make sure that all the liquitabs are locked away and I tell everyone to do the same.

"The boxes they come in really should be child proof and I hope manufacturers do something about this as I wouldn't want this to happen to any other little girl or boy."

Source - BBC

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I don't use liquitabs, but if I had young children, they (and the washing powder I do use) will be locked away with other cleaning products.

I smell irresponsible parenting, once again.

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Grand Master

TheLegendOfMart

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"The boxes they come in really should be child proof and I hope manufacturers do something about this as I wouldn't want this to happen to any other little girl or boy."

How about you look after your child properly......?

Liquitab boxes arent exactly easy to get into, the clips require an amount of force to open, if you leave your child long enough unsupervised in an area that has dangerous cleaning chemicals then you don't deserve kids nor do you get to point your finger at the corporations who make the chemicals.

Does she seriously expect them to spend millions redesigning the boxes to be childproof because of a handful of irresponsible parents?

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Grand Master

Nashy

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Child proof? They can be child proof. Put them out of the reach of your kids.

All of my chemicals are up on high shelves in areas where kids aren't allowed, and can't get to without an adult.

I DON'T EVEN HAVE KIDS!

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Grand Master

Dick Montage

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OK, a few points:

1) The boxes are really quite tough to open. I found this out as a recently single 34 year old guy who spent about 2 minutes trying to open one.

2) "Placing them high" is no longer a fair argument. Kids climb EVERYWHERE. If I ever have kids, there will be certain locked cupboards.

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Grand Master

MightyJordan

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Is that laundry detergent? Never seen that here in the US.

Yep, it's detergent in a dissolvable plastic capsule. They've become fairly popular here in the UK over the past few years (they're bloody expensive, though, so most of us still opt for washing powder).

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CG-88

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OK, a few points:

1) The boxes are really quite tough to open. I found this out as a recently single 34 year old guy who spent about 2 minutes trying to open one.

Haha really? Which brand? I spend about 5 minutes trying to get some of the stupid things closed, nevermind open lol

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mps69

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I think the problem is they are hard to open the first time, so people are just leaving the box open all the time, which seems logical. However if your going to do that, childproof the place where they are kept, or place them out of reach from young hands.

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Rising Star

jamieakers

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Can't legislate against stupid. If you can't keep dangerous items out of reach of children you really need help. It's no different to putting fabric conditioner, bleach, matches, lighters, medicines and a multitude of other substances out of reach of children.

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Grand Master

techbeck

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Child proof? They can be child proof. Put them out of the reach of your kids.

All of my chemicals are up on high shelves in areas where kids aren't allowed, and can't get to without an adult.

I DON'T EVEN HAVE KIDS!

Exactly. People need to take responsibility and stop blaming others for their stupidity/laziness.

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Grand Master

Noir Angel

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Nothing that can't be solved by good parenting. Assume that nothing is safe, and lock anything potentially dangerous where it cannot be accessed.

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Grand Master

remixedcat

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I only have dogs and I even know to keep things like that out of reach of them let alone kids

same with my kitty!!!

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Grand Master

Noir Angel

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I don't really find any difference, the liquid and tabs seem about as effective as the powder and old fashioned detergent, you get about the same amount of washes out of them and they're about as effective. However the newer gel does seem more effective at lower temperatures, which is good if you're interested in reducing your energy output.

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killez

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My parents use them at their house and they have my niece and nephew living with them, but even from a young age we made sure to show them what it is and what it is used for by letting them throw the tabs in the washer. Just hiding the chemicals and locking them away helps but educating your kids in the dangers of them is another effective step in preventing a tragedy.

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