Avoid scary calls. Learn poison prevention tips for the summer

The warm weather has lured many of us outside to tidy our gardens and indoors to clean out closets and cabinets. Before you begin summer cleaning, experts at the North Texas Poison Center (NTPC) at Parkland want you to keep the following safety tips in mind.

A clean home means a healthy environment for your family, but some garden and household cleaning products contain hazardous chemicals, so it’s important to keep these products up and away from curious kids. Doing so could help prevent a call to the Poison Center or, worse, a trip to the ER.

“A colored bag with pretty flowers or a clear spray bottle can be hard for children to ignore,” said Lizbeth Petty, MPH, Public Health Education Manager at NTPC. “They may be curious or simply want to help their parents with gardening work, but these products can get on their skin, in their eyes, or they could swallow a harmful substance, resulting in serious injury.”

Petty recommends familiarizing yourself with the major categories of household and garden products that can be harmful if not handled properly. Some potential poisons include pesticides, fertilizers, disinfectants, polishes and waxes, sanitizers, and detergents.

The NTPC is available 24/7 to help advise callers during scary incidents. Following a few simple steps and educating your children to never touch or put chemicals in their mouths can help prevent poisoning from happening at home.

A few poison prevention tips to keep in mind include:

• Keep medicines and cleaning products in their original containers, properly labeled and stored up, away and out of reach.
• Do not use food containers to store household cleaners, chemicals or hazardous products.
• Keep all laundry products locked up, high and out of the reach of children.
• Have working carbon monoxide detectors in your home near bedrooms and close to furnaces.
• Know what venomous snakes live in your area and wear proper attire (boots, etc.) when hiking outdoors or working in brushy areas in the garden.
• Check the label on any insect repellent and be aware that most contain DEET, which can be poisonous if used incorrectly.
• Be sure that everyone in your family can identify poisonous mushrooms and plants. Teach your children to “Always Ask First!” if they are unsure if something is harmful. Remember when it comes to poison ivy, “leaves of three, let it be.”

Anyone can contact the NTPC by dialing the national toll-free number at 1-800-222-1222. You can also add the Poison Help number to your smartphone contacts by texting the word “poison” to 797979.

For more information about the North Texas Poison Center, visit www.poisoncontrol.org. To find out about services at Parkland, go to www.parklandhealth.org