SAFETY

Hazard Symbols
Dangerous chemicals are supposed to be labelled with warning symbols. But do consumers know what these symbols mean? And what should you do in case of accidental poisoning?
Chemicals are an integral part of modern life. They are found in every household and workplace. But they can be bad for your health. If not used correctly they can catch fire, cause burns, damage health and damage the environment. Dangerous chemicals, by law, must have warning labels flagging their contents. But do consumers really know what these labels mean? And if someone becomes poisoned by such chemicals, what should they do? weekends and during school holidays.

Why are children at special risk of poisoning?

Children are at a special risk of poisoning due, in large part, to their curiosity and tendency to put things into their mouths. Many children have started to crawl by their first birthday, and their hand to mouth co-ordination already allows for items to be placed in their mouths. With increased mobility comes increased curiosity about their environment and therefore a greater risk of poisoning.

of sight and out of reach of children. Keep all products in their original containers. DO NOT DECANT CHEMICALS FROM THEIR ORIGINAL CONTAINERS! Secure cupboards with childproof locks. Use any protective clothing, gloves or goggles that are recommended in the instructions. Read prescription labels carefully to avoid taking the wrong medicine or dose. Contact your GP or pharmacy if in doubt. Learn to recognise the hazard warning symbols for dangerous chemicals (listed in this article). Whether with medicines or chemicals, read the labels carefully and correctly follow all instructions. Consult your garden centre when deciding on suitable garden plants.

What is a poison?
A poison is a substance which causes damage if taken into the body. This can happen by being swallowed, inhaled, injected or absorbed through the skin or eyes. Poisons may include pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, household products and even plants. The majority of poisonings in this country happen to young children and mostly at the childs home, the home of a grandparent, relative, friend or at school. The peak times for poisoning incidents with regard to children is during late afternoon, at
POISONOUS

Do not: Remove the labels from medicines or household products. The label nearly always contains information relating to ingredients and instructions as to what to do in an emergency. Transfer tablets to another container. For example, a child finding tablets in a small container, purse or envelope could mistake them for sweets. Store chemicals under the kitchen sink or where they can easily be reached in the bathroom.
EXPLOSIVE

Poison prevention in the home

(adapted from National Poisons Information Centre literature)

Do: Use containers with child-resistant caps. Remember that these are child-resistant not childproof. Your pharmacist should be able to provide these, if the medicines dont come in a blister pack. Keep all chemicals and medicines out
FLAMMABLE

AT A GLANCE

What is a poison? Children at risk. Our survey.

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THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF POTENTIALLY POISONOUS SUBSTANCES THAT MIGHT BE FOUND IN THE HOME:
Kitchen Detergents, disinfectants, bleaches, drain cleaner, oven cleaners, waxes, polish, dishwasher detergents and tablets, white spirit, tippex, glue, essential oils, herbal remedies, house plants, alcohol, coins and batteries. Bathroom Medicines, vitamins, iron tablets, aerosol sprays, shampoo, nail polish remover, mouthwash, bleach, false teeth cleaner. Bedroom Medicines, vitamins, minerals, herbal medicines, perfume, aftershave lotion, essential oils, pot pourri oils. Garden Flowers, berries, seeds, mushrooms, leaves. Farms Weedkillers, pesticides, vaccines, sheep dip, slurry tanks, manure pits. Handbag / briefcase Coins, medicines, cigarettes, lighters. Shed / Garage Petrol, paraffin, car products, insect spray, fertiliser, weed-killer, paint, white spirit, turpentine, lighter fluid, superglue, rat poison.

Forget that grandparents and older people are more likely than younger adults to be taking medication, so when visiting them, make sure that medicines are out of reach of any children. Have out of date medicines in your home. Bring them to your pharmacist for safe disposal. Refer to medicines or tablets as sweets. Take medicines in front of children as they often imitate the actions of adults. Mix chemicals unless you are sure they wont react. For example, never mix acid cleaners with bleach, as the reaction produces chlorine gas.

What to do in an emergency
If a child is found with a poison:Stay calm but act quickly. Take the poison away from the child. Make the child spit it out, run your fingers around the mouth and inside the mouth, removing any remaining material. DO NOT make the child vomit. This is extremely important as it may increase the risk of aspiration (poison going into lungs) and if it is a corrosive poison, it can burn the throat and mouth for a second time on the way up. Do not give them anything to eat or drink until instructed to do so by qualified medical personnel. Take the child to a GP or hospital if
CORROSIVE

you suspect that they may have been poisoned. Some poisons have immediate effect, others can take hours or even days to affect the person, therefore it is always best to see a GP. If this is not possible, bring the person to a hospitals accident and emergency department. Always take the product container or label with you to the GP / hospital. If a person ingests a substance stored in, for instance, a container with no label, bring the container to the GP. This can help to identify the substance and speed up the treatment. If a chemical is splashed in the eyes, they should be immediately washed with tap water and then medical assistance sought.

does not necessarily mean you have been poisoned. Some poisons do not have immediate symptoms and it may be hours, days or even months before they show.

When taking someone with suspected poisoning to the hospital or GP, it is important to know the following details: What was taken? How much was taken? The persons age and weight. Does the person have any symptoms? How long ago did the poisoning occur? Was there manufacturer information on the label / container. Some labels include telephone numbers for the manufacturers information desk, which can be helpful in the case of a suspected poisoning. Was there a hazard symbol or poison label on the product?

Symptoms that can occur after poisoning

Symptoms can vary depending on the poison, the amount taken and the strength of the product, but can include some of the following: Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, drowsiness, dizziness, weakness, headache, difficulty swallowing or producing more saliva than normal, skin rash, burns around nose or mouth, seizures, coma. Its important to remember that almost every one of these symptoms can be caused by other, unrelated medical complaints. Therefore, having these symptoms
IRRITANT

HAZARD SYMBOLS SURVEY

Symbol Corrosive Environmental hazard Poisonous Flammable Explosive Incorrect Explanation from members of public Its raining. Is it a pair of scissors? Fishing not allowed. Power lines down. Beware power lines down. Its a CD cover. Do not burn. Falling rocks. Beware of laser.

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD

Report by Mike Doran

cc

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HAZARD SYMBOLS SURVEY

Hazard symbol Irritant Flammable Example of product Bleaches, some household cleaning products. Compressed gas cylinders / canisters, solvents such as petrol, white spirit, turpentine, lighter fluids, cigarette lighters, paraffin, petrochemicals. Rodent poisons, weedkillers, dishwasher detergents, disinfectants, bleaches, etc. Some cleaning products, strong acids or alkalis. Rare in the home.

with dangerous chemicals. The fact that so few consumers are sufficiently familiar with them is worrying and indicates that the Government must make more of an effort to increase awareness of the dangers of chemicals in the home.

or accident and emergency department of a hospital. Although most instances of poisoning do not lead to death, it is vital to get medical treatment.

National Poisons Information Centre

Many doctors treating people who have been poisoned will contact the National Poisons Information Centre (NPIC) at Beaumont hospital. The centre operates every day of the year and provides a comprehensive information service to medical staff and other healthcare professionals from across the country who are treating suspected poisonings. Information officers at the centre answer queries regarding symptoms of poisoning. They are not qualified to make clinical decisions regarding a patients treatment but can assist the doctors in the management of the poisoning by providing relevant, up-todate information. The NPIC Information Officers answer enquiries between 8am and 10pm every day. At other times, telephone enquiries are automatically re-routed to the National Poisons Information Service in Britain. There are plans to provide 24-hour cover at Beaumont soon. Another role of the NPIC is to collect data on acute poisoning. This information is then passed on to the European Commission where it is incorporated with reports from other European Poisons Centres. The number of enquiries received by the NPIC has increased dramatically in the past ten years. Last year, the centre dealt with 16,000 calls. Of this number, most involved pharmaceuticals, but 1,890 were cases of household poisonings. The majority of these, nearly 1,100 in all, related to children. Dr Joseph Tracey, clinical director of the NPIC, said that people need to exercise more caution when storing chemicals: People always store bleaches, dish-washing tablets and dish-washing fluids under the kitchen sink. This makes toxic chemicals very accessible, particularly to children. Our message is to store these products high up out of the reach of children. Tinned foods, like beans and peaches, can be stored under the sink as they are safe if children get their hands on them. Also, on no account should chemicals be decanted into smaller containers such as jam jars, for use in cleaning brushes and the like. In the event of poisoning, theres no label on the jam jar and this inevitably delays appropriate management of the poisoning.

Toxic Corrosive Explosive

What the symbols really mean

Toxic/Poisonous: Toxic to health, poisonous to humans. On no account ingest. Irritant or Harmful: Avoid contact with skin, do not breath. This symbols covers a wide range of potentially harmful products that can damage the skin and eyes and cause irritation to the nose and throat. Corrosive: Avoid contact with skin. Can burn skin or eyes. Extreme caution is advised. Flammable: Risk of catching fire. Never expose these products to a naked flame such as a lighter or matches or any other source of ignition, such as electrical switches. Some flammable materials are also volatile solvents, which means that they can spread out from unsealed containers. For this reason, they should be stored in airtight, sealed containers. Explosive: Risk of explosion. Environmental hazard: Can cause harm to the environment, pollute rivers and streams, damage wildlife. More associated with industrial pollution. Flammable gas: Same as flammable, but in gas form (usually pressurised containers). The hazard symbols most familiar to consumers in the survey were the Irritant, Toxic and Flammable symbols. This is unsurprising as these would feature in most households at one time or another. The Irritant symbol could be found on bottles of bleach, the Flammable on a variety of products including aerosol canisters. Rat poisons and weedkillers might feature the Toxic symbol.

Environmental hazard Again, rare in the home. More common on a farm or in industry. Flammable gas Gas canisters, refillable gas cylinders for use in heaters, some pressurised canisters containing deodorant, air freshener, etc.

Useful contacts
The National Poisons Information Centre PO Box 1297 Beaumont Hospital Beaumont Road Dublin 9 tel (01) 837 9966 fax (01) 837 6982 email npic.dublin@ beaumont.ie www.iol.ie/~npic/ The Health and Safety Authority 10 Hogan Place Dublin 2 tel 1890 289 389 fax (01) 614 7020 email wcu@hsa.ie www.hsa.ie

Hazard symbols survey

With so many potentially poisonous substances in the home, it seems sensible to be aware of what their hazard warning symbols mean. In an effort to gauge consumers awareness of what these important symbols mean, Consumer Choice conducted a survey in the Swan Centre, a busy shopping complex in the South Dublin suburb of Rathmines. A list of seven of the most popular hazard symbols, many of which would feature on containers and products in most homes, was shown to twenty members of the public and they were asked to describe what the symbols meant. Not one person was able to correctly identify all seven items. Twelve out of the 20, (60%) correctly identified three symbols or less. Of the remaining eight who got at least four correct, only one identified five symbols correctly. There is a difference between recognising a warning symbol and knowing what it means. Most of the participants, 16 out of 20, were familiar with at least five out of the seven symbols, but many could not explain what the symbols meant. The tables on pp101-102 show some of the symbols shown to consumers in the survey and the incorrect explanations they gave. These warning symbols are put on products for a very good reason, namely the prevention of poisoning

What to do
Consumers who have been poisoned, or suspect that they have, should proceed immediately to a GP

choice comment
The Department of Health and Children should be alarmed at the apparent unfamiliarity of consumers with hazard warning symbols present in most homes. This should be addressed
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through a comprehensive advertising campaign to warn consumers of the potential dangers of household chemicals and to raise awareness and understanding of the symbols. In
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addition, the service provided by the National Poisons Information Centre (NPIC) must be resourced to provide a full, 24 hour response service for the Irish consumer.

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