ACSH staffers were worried that the ABC news headline “Cleaning Products Still Pose Risk to Kids” implied a wannabe “Toxic America” sequel. Instead, the article highlighted a legitimate health hazard — poisoning and contact injuries. While new child-resistant packaging on the most dangerous products such as oven cleaners has cut cases of ingestion by children five and younger by 46 percent, injuries from spray bottles have not declined, probably because spray bottle cleaners are not childproof.
“With these new cleaners, children are able to spray the cleaning solution into their mouths and also ingest them by breaking the bottle,” says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. “We need to spend less time worrying about alarmist concerns like BPA in bottles and more time monitoring our young children’s safety.”
