Eye burns from laundry pods have increased 30-fold in four years in the United States. Children are the first victims of these products.
Small and powerful… especially for the eyes. Laundry accidents are exploding in the United States. Blame it on the ultra-concentrated candy-like berlingots which particularly appeal to young children. Result: in the United States, eye burns have increased thirty-fold in just 4 years. A team from Johns Hopkins University (United States) is sounding the alarm in the JAMA Ophthalmology.
A marked acceleration
The progress observed by American researchers is alarming. In 2011, no child was admitted to the emergency room due to the explosion of a liquid detergent capsule. The following year, 12 boys aged 3-4 went through this service with eye damage. In 2015, 480 toddlers went to the hospital. At the top of the diagnoses, burns caused by chemicals contained in the laundry, but also conjunctivitis.
Further proof of this acceleration, the evolution of chemical burns to the eyes. They represented 0.8% of all eye burns at the start of the study. Today, a quarter of patients are affected.
If the eyes are affected, it is not by chance. The envelopes of the cartons are very fragile. Pressed too hard, they can explode and send projections into these organs. The capsule can also dissolve in the hands. Wearing these in the eyes is a frequent gesture among young children.
The key role of warnings
The authors’ conclusions are straightforward. In view of these results, parents must be more attentive. Because almost all incidents occur in the family home. Storing packaging out of the reach of children and in closed cupboards is a basic advice, now written on the boxes.
But the researchers are also calling on detergent manufacturers: it would be in their interest to make packaging less tempting “while improving their strength and durability”. This is also the opinion of the Poison Control Centers, which have devoted a complete study to these concentrated laundry pods. Message visibly received, since some brands have taken the fold, improving the warning messages.
“Preventive measures have been developed to improve packaging: opaque boxes, secure closure, confirm the Poison Control Centers. Other simple measures can be proposed to prevent exposure: danger pictogram and clear information on labels encouraging families to keep products out of the sight and reach of young children. Other brands go so far as to broadcast advertisements targeted at young parents.
France also affected
These precautions are all the more necessary as pod explosions can have wider consequences. Concentrated laundry can cause breathing difficulties, repeated vomiting or nausea but also eye or skin burns, according to the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Control (DGCCRF). This state service recently alerted families to these risks. In France, the number of accidental swallows of liquid detergent increased from 500 to 5,000 between 2009 and 2014.
Source : Poison control centers
Not surprisingly, young children are by far the most affected. At the top of the symptoms, digestive manifestations (48%) followed by eye problems (13%). This explosion of incidents, the Poison Control Centers associate it with an increase in sales. It is far from trivial: the symptoms associated with concentrated pods are often more serious than those associated with conventional detergents, particularly when they affect the eyes.
Wash immediately and with plenty of water
Children’s eyes are strained by the ultra-concentrated doses of detergent contained in the cartons. How to prevent the damage from lasting? Why actor asked the question to general secretary of the National Union of French Ophthalmologists (SNOF).
What causes these eye burns?
Dr Lionel Leroy : These products are composed of water-soluble pods, which melt on contact with water. Most often, young children put them in the mouth, and the envelope melts under the effect of saliva. This results in secondary projections at eye level. The product has a basic pH, the products are alkaline. The damage affects the cornea and conjunctiva, causing burns.
How should parents act?
Dr Lionel Leroy : The action to be taken is to wash immediately with plenty of water, because in the medium and long term base burns are more dangerous for the eye than slightly acidic products. It is therefore necessary to wash with lukewarm water, at least 10 to 15 minutes. Then, it is mandatory to go to an ophthalmologist in an emergency center.
What consequences can arise?
Lionel leroy : Depending on the size of the projection, the epithelial cells on the surface of the conjunctiva and the cornea may be affected. If the burn is complete, it also destroys the stem cells in the limbus, which prevents tissue regeneration. This leads to a chronic corneal ulcer and it takes different treatments to cover the cornea. If there are no limbal stem cells left at all, a transplant should be considered, which is currently being done very well.
.
