According to an article in Clinical Pediatrics, from 2002-16 nearly 65,000 children under the age of 5 were treated at emergency rooms because of their exposure to makeup, nail polish, perfume and other personal care products — with 99 percent of the incidents occurring at home. That’s about 1 child every two hours.
Personal care products such as shampoo, deodorant, hand lotion, aftershave, sunscreen, nail polish, perfume and hair permanent/dyes/relaxers all caused injuries to the children. The majority of the injuries (86 percent) were due to poisoning, but another 14 percent of injuries were caused by chemical burns. Most of those injured were under the age of 2.
Think of how “enticing” a bottle of nail polish can look to a two-year-old child. Or how harmless a bottle of clear liquid (like cologne or nail polish remover) would appear to a toddler. While many adults safely store medications out of arms reach, they may not do the same with personal care products because they assume they are harmless. To keep children safe, either add childproof locks to below-counter drawers and cabinets, or move your personal care products to out of the reach locations.
