Abstract
It is widely believed that household products contain an enormous variety of toxic chemicals, so the ingestion of these substances by children is a frequent cause for alarm among parents and doctors alike. The extent of this concern is reflected by the number of enquiries made to poisons information centres. In the UK, the National Poisons information Service (NPIS) supplies information only to, members of the medical profession. Nevertheless, in 1978 nearly 26,000 enquiries were made to the London centre of the NPIS and 28 per cent of these concerned household products, of which 69 per cent involved children under the age of five years. The statistics in America are similar even though ‘poison control centers’ deal with members of the public as well as with medical practitioners (Table 24.1).
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
