National Poison Prevention Week Marks Its 50th Anniversary
The U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is joining forces again with partners in the United States, Canada, and Mexico to make consumers aware of the dangers of accidental poisonings. National Poison Prevention Week, observed the third week of March each year, highlights the hazards of poisonings and how to prevent them.
This year, National Poison Prevention Week is emphasizing that children act fast and so do poisons. The sponsors point out that poisonings are entirely preventable and that awareness coupled with implementation of safety precautions when it comes to medicines or hazardous chemicals is key to stopping injury and death in children due to accidental poisonings.
Each year, more than 2 million poisonings are reported in the United States. Over 90 percent of poisonings take place in the home and children under six account for most non-fatal poisonings. Poisonings are one of the main causes of deaths among adults.
Although education programs and child-resistant packaging have significantly reduced unintentional poisonings over the past 50 years, safety agencies are working to make those numbers even lower.
The CPSC recommends that consumers take the following steps to keep kids safe:
- Keep household chemicals and medicines in their original, child-resistant containers.
- Store hazardous substances out of a child’s sight and reach.
- Always have the Poison Help hotline number available: (800) 222-1222.
With proper precautions in place and a little common sense, poisonings are entirely preventable. The Tallahassee personal injury attorneys at Farah & Farah congratulate the CPSC and other organizations on their 50-year crusade to reduce the number of unintentional poisonings in Florida and across the nation.
By Eddie Farah
