Keeping children safe around cosmetics

When we think about household products that need to be kept out of the reach of small children, we usually think about medications and cleaning products. We don’t usually think about cosmetics. But a study published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics shows that we need to think about cosmetics too. How many childhood injuries are due to cosmetics? Researchers used the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to look at data about children younger than 5 who were treated in US emergency departments for cosmetics-related injuries between 2002 and 2016. They found that in that time period, almost 65,000 children went to the emergency department because of a cosmetics-related injury. That’s a little more than 4,000 every year. About 60% of children injured were younger than 2, and 40% were ages 2 to 4. The vast majority suffered minor injuries. Only 6.4% (about 1 in 15) needed to be hospitalized. Not surprisingly, children younger than 2 were most likely to be hospitalized. There were no fatalities. Which cosmetics are often involved? When looking at the injuries, the researchers found: 28% were from nail care products 27% from hair care products (including things like hair dye, or chemicals used for straightening or permanent waves) 25% from skin care products (including sunscreen) 13% were from fragrances. Almost all — 99% — of the injuries occurred at home. The injuries were most often poisonings or chemical burns. Here are the products that were the biggest o...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Children's Health Injuries Source Type: blogs