A social experiment carried out in the Netherlands has discovered children appear to be more attracted to bottles of dangerous chemicals than toys.
Children of different ages were given a choice between a regular, age-appropriate toy, or a brightly coloured bottle of cleaning solution.
The experiment used hidden cameras, eye-tracking sensors and heart rate monitors to measure their attraction to the different objects.
Alarmingly, more than half the children who took part in the experiment reached for the hazardous poisons instead of the toys.
Fifty per cent of the youngsters reached for a stain remover, 64 per cent went for paint and 82 per cent wanted bleach.
Detergent pods were also highly attractive to the children.
The results were used in a public service announcement video in the Netherlands, where 7500 accidents occur due to household chemicals.
The campaign has a simple message: "Don't give kids a choice."
TIPS FOR POISON PREVENTION IN THE HOME
- Keep all chemicals and medicines out of sight and reach of children, preferably locked away. Young children can be good climbers, and often surprise their parents by getting things thought to be out of reach.
- Keep all chemicals and medicines in their original containers, with the label intact. Do not store it in a food or drink container. This is an illegal and highly dangerous practice, causing a multitude of poisonings every week around the world.
- Store all chemicals and medicines separately from food. This reduces the chance of accidental poisoning in an adult, and helps teach children that medicines and chemicals are not food.
- Put any chemicals or medicines straight back in their place of storage after use. A significant proportion of childhood poisonings occur when chemicals or medicines have been left out after use.
- Dispose of chemicals and medicines that are no longer used.
- Child resistant caps are not child proof. Keep medications out of reach of children, even if they have child-resistant packaging.
- Choose junior strength or smaller packaging sizes. This can help reduce the chance of serious poisoning if a child was to swallow some.
- Childhood poisonings often occur when a child is sick. Pay special attention to putting medicines away after use, and never refer to medicines as lollies or sweets.
- Do not keep the dishwasher door open when not in use. Children can get into the dishwasher and the powder or pod before or after the wash cycle. This can result in serious poisoning.
Source: New Zealand National Poisons Centre
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