SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington Poison Center has seen an increase in calls about children sickened by eating single-use washing machine packets.
Development Director Terri Suzuki says the nonprofit center in Seattle has received 16 calls so far this year, compared to zero last year.
The center handles a total of about 75,000 calls a year — more than half of them are about children under 6 — so the laundry pod problem is relatively small.
Suzuki says kids will get into any household product. The pods are more dangerous because they’re concentrated. They cause profuse vomiting right away and they can affect breathing for up to 24 hours.
The center has sent a fax alert to hospital emergency rooms to make them aware of the problem.
