Coalition Urges America to Prevent Poisonings
CDC is reminding the public that this year's National Poison Prevention Week is being observed March 16-22. The observance is organized each year by the National Poison Prevention Week Council, a coalition of national organizations working to highlight the dangers of poisoning and its prevention.
From 1999 to 2005, unintentional poisoning death rates increased by 80 percent, largely because of increases in recreational drug overdoses among adults, according to CDC. In addition, U.S. poison-control centers reported an estimated 2.3 million exposures to poisonous substances during 2006. Approximately 93 percent of these exposures occurred at a residence, and nearly half occurred in children aged less than six years. Poisonous agents most often implicated in pediatric exposures include cosmetics, personal-care products, cleaning substances, analgesics, cough and cold preparations, and other products usually found in the home.
Resources for consumer education about poisoning and its prevention are available from CDC at www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/poisoning.htm and from the National Poison Prevention Week Council at www.poisonprevention.org.