The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have revealed that there has been a significant rise on calls to poison hotlines for cases involving cleaners and disinfectants as compared to reports from the previous years
From January through March, poison centers received 45,550 exposure calls related to cleaners (28,158) and disinfectants (17,392), the report said, representing overall increases of 20.4 percent compared with the same period in 2019 and 16.4 percent more than 2018.
Such reports have increased since more awareness is being created on the effects of the coronavirus in the United States. However, call centers have not recorded specific information as to whether the rise in infections after using detergents was as a result for people being scared of getting the virus or not.
“People are home and they are frightened and they want to get their home and their food as clean as possible,” Dr. Calello said. “Common sense can take a back seat.”
Dr. David Gummin, the medical director of the Wisconsin Poison Center, was involved in the research and revealed that reports have been received from people trying to use ethanol and alcoholic beverages when they run out of hand sanitizers.
“Products are generally fairly safe if used appropriately,” Dr. Gummin said. “But now with every American trying to stay Covid-free, people are not only utilizing cleaners and hand sanitizers at record rates, but also trying to identify alternate mechanisms to keep things sanitized. The important thing is to keep them locked up and out of the reach of children.”
Dr. Calello said cleanliness is vital in fighting the disease, but some people have been “overzealous” about disinfecting.
“Educating people about what is safe is the key,” she said, “but I have a hunch the numbers will go up in April.”
by Mawusi Tawiah
