Health problems occurring from household chemicals, including drugs.

Abstract

In 1955 1 solid and liquid substances were designated as the causative agents in 1,431 deaths due to accidental poisoning. Gases and vapors were responsible for 1,163 deaths. Suicide from self-inflicted poisoning from solid and liquid substances and gases accounted for 3,429 additional deaths. For practical purposes these 6,023 deaths occur in and about the home. Of the 1,431 accidental poisonings by liquid and solid substances, 358 occurred in children under 5 years of age; 44 of the 1,163 deaths due to gases and vapors were found in children under 5 years. These imposing statistics do not give us an absolute picture of the problem; the number of nonfatal poisonings is estimated to be 100 to 150 times the number of fatalities. It should be recognized, too, that, although the present death rate for all types of poisoning from solid and liquid substances is about one-third that of 50 years