For Release:  March 21, 2016

During National Poison Prevention Week, March 20-26, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is highlighting the importance of properly storing common household products like cleaning supplies and insect repellents. Keeping these products out of children’s reach is one of the easiest things you can do to protect your kids from accidental poisonings.

Help spread the word about Poison Prevention Week by sharing our blog post and messages through social media, listservs, and other outreach opportunities:

• Read Assistant Administrator Jim Jones’ blog on poison prevention
• Retweet us

In 2014, America’s 56 poison control centers served 323 million people nation-wide. Of their 2.9 million cases, about 2.2 million involved people coming into contact with dangerous or potentially dangerous substances. According to recently published poison center data (PDF), ( 186, 4.92 MB, About PDF) Exit in 2014, nearly 140,000 calls to poison centers involved pesticides, including disinfectants. Moreover, the California Poison Control System and the Central California Children’s Hospital identified more than 1,400 cases of accidental poisoning caused by storage of non-food substances in soda bottles, unmarked bottles, cups or glasses.

National Poison Prevention Week is a time to raise awareness about simple steps that can be taken to prevent poisonings. Most poisonings happen in people’s homes and are preventable.
Check out our poison prevention tips.