Pods: A Prediction Comes True

[frigilux]

But the 17,000 pod incidents are in addition to those other incidents - and they're from a source that did not exist until quite recently.

 

Point well-taken, Sandy.  I certainly didn't mean to infer that because more kids are injured/killed in bathtub accidents we shouldn't be concerned about the pod ingestion problem.  

 

Anyone who spends time with tykes knows their first instinct is to put things in their mouths, especially items designed to look enticing (pods from Tide and Gain, for example).  I don't fault the kids, who are often too young to know better.  And while I do believe parents need to be diligent in keeping little ones away from harmful products, I also understand it's impossible to monitor their every move 24/7.  

 

I like the pod format and use it almost exclusively in the washer and dishwasher, but were toddlers part of the household, I'd definitely switch back to a tightly-capped jug of Tide With Bleach HE kept on a high shelf.  Kids have landed in the ER due to detergent ingestion for decades; the deadly difference is the super-toxic concentration of chemicals in a pod.

 

 

 

[washerboy]

solution

Until the makers of pods give them a make over...how about basic parental responsibility. Either stop buying if there are small children in the home or store them out of reach of little ones. Of course I sound like my grand mother, but "back in my day" when my children were little all chemicals were either kept on a very high shelf or kept below the kitchen sink with a child lock on the outside. I was so OCD about my childen and keeping the house safe that to this very day I still turn the handles of pots and pans to the inside of the stove and contine to keep bleach and laundry detergent on a high shelf; I haven't had little one under foot for at least 18 years! Of course childen ingesting household cleaning products is nothing new. just the thought of what kind of damage a ingested pod would do to the inside of a little ones mouth not to mention the lining of the gut..geez

 

[danemodsandy]

Mark:

You do those things. I do those things. But the reality of the world in which we live is, most people don't do those things. And that is why one kid an hour is getting in trouble with pods.

 

[combo52]

17,000 Injured Children a Year Is One Too Many

When you consider that fewer children than ever are being injured growing up today I would suggest that parents are doing a better job today raising their kids than when most of us grew up and no one needs anything else to distract them from the important job of raising their kids.

Everyone should consider how much children eating detergent has cost each and everyone of us in medical health care costs for all these injured children that had to either go to the emergency room or the doctor.

Something needs to be done and something will be done, common sense usually prevails.

 

[vintagekitchen]

fewer injured children..

Personally i think that the fact fewer children are injured growing up now than in years past has less to do with watchful parents, and more to do with reduced dangers in the home.

No coal or wood range in the kitchen, electric lighting instead of kerosene or gas, electric appliances now thoroughly tested to reduce nasty shocks to the user, safer household wiring, no boiling pot or copper on laundry day, no wringers to mash fingers, safety rails everywhere, safety razors instead of dads old throat slitter, etc etc.. I could go on and on.

Modern parents actually seem to be less watchful of their children, there being so many fewer dangers to watch out for.

As for the laundry pods, how hard is it to put the blasted things on a high shelf or in a cabinet with a childproof lock? Where do these people keep their drain cleaner, next to the Pepsi?

 

[frigilux]

I'm surprised there aren't more reports of kids eating dishwasher detergent pods.  Cascade Pacs and Tide Pods look very similar.  Most people keep dishwasher detergent under the sink, making access fairly easy.

 

Photo 1:  Cascade Pac

Photo 2:  Tide Pod

 

[earthling177]

Eugene, the thought occurred to me too, but mostly I think that whoever is keeping the records is just not writing down *which* pods the kids are taking, for all we know, both dishwasher and laundry pods are causing trouble and piled up in the same bin when it comes to sick children.

 

[whirlcool]

taking this off the market will only put an end to this problem, only for people to find another to show their own stupidity...

and why should the whole world have to suffer because of no brainers of others...

Because that's the way things currently work. When I was growing up, if you did something stupid without thinking you could end up getting you ass kicked but good.
These days people go around being stupid and nobody does anything to them at all. They completely get away with it with no repercussions! In fact, sometimes I think that people enjoy being able to have such freedom to do stupid things.

I say to people who do stupid things because they are either lazy or "too busy" to read the instructions get what they deserve in the end. We can't have corporations acting as baby sitters for the entire populace.

 

[combo52]

Parents arn't paying attentutation to they kids today?

I don't think so, parents are in almost constant contact with there kids today, half the kids that tasted these pods probably had their own Cell Phones, LOL.

But it is true that homes are much safer than the were 50 or 100 years ago for children and adults alike and they shouldn't they be.

 

[philr]

...that tasted these pods probably had their own Cell Phones

LOL!

 

I can see that!

 

[gusherb]

So the last time I was in Target a few weeks ago the Tide Pods were in clear containers and today they were all in non transparent orange containers. They were far less eye catching...