Six of the eight deaths, including Edith's, involved pods manufactured by Procter & Gamble, according to the CPSC reports. The medical examiner ruled her death an accident ingestion of laundry detergent was listed as the cause. Edith, who had been known to mistake objects for candy, had eaten them. She found that the pungent smell of laundry detergent filled Edith's bedroom, and a new container of liquid laundry detergent packets had been opened. The first clues as to what happened came when her daughter-in-law returned home from the hospital to collect a few things. (CR discovered Edith's name through further reporting but chose to withhold her last name in the interest of her family's privacy.)Īccording to the information we received from the CPSC, Edith had seemed fine during lunch, just a few hours before she was found. Now it's clear that kids aren't the only vulnerable population.Ĭonsumer Reports learned about the pod-related deaths through a Freedom of Information Act request that we filed earlier this year with the CPSC. ![]() And although some manufacturers have made some changes to the packaging and the product itself, pods continue to pose serious health risks. CR's advice to consumers has been to keep laundry packets out of households where children under 6 years old may be present. ![]() Not long after Tide Pods debuted in a television commercial during the Academy Awards in 2012, promoting a new product category, Consumer Reports began calling on manufacturers to make liquid packets safer. Liquid laundry detergent packets are squishy like playthings and colorful like candy, which helps explain why children can be drawn to them. "Water, wet hands, and even saliva can dissolve the packets and release the highly concentrated liquid." "Caregivers and children of seniors should be aware that ingestion of the contents of certain liquid laundry packets has led to serious and even tragic incidents," says Patty Davis, press secretary for the CPSC. ![]() Two of the cases were young children and six were adults with dementia. between 2012 and early 2017 that have been reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. She died two days later.Įdith's is one of eight deaths related to ingesting liquid laundry packets in the U.S. The woman, who suffered from dementia, had eaten two liquid laundry detergent packets. One day last May, an 87-year-old woman named Edith was rushed to the hospital in a small Texas town after she was found slumped over and unresponsive at the home where she lived with her son and daughter-in-law.
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