Every 15 seconds U.S. poison centers receive a call about someone being exposed to a poison. Forty percent of those cases involve a child under three. According to the National Safety Council, more than 50 percent of over two million poisoning incidents each year involve children under six years of age. These figures show the need for everyone to lock up household pesticides and chemicals in a high cabinet out of the reach of children.
EPA observes National Poison Prevention Week each year to increase awareness of the danger to children of accidental poisonings from pesticides and household products, and to encourage parents and caregivers to lock up products that could potentially harm children.
In most poisonings, children swallow common substances found around almost every home: prescription drugs, non-prescription pain killers, vitamins, cosmetics, and personal care and cleaning products. These poisonings also involve house plants, vegetable, fruits, tobacco products, and alcohol.