The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously in October to require child-resistant packaging for some common household products and cosmetics containing hydrocarbons that can poison children. This safety standard will help prevent injuries and deaths to children under 5 years of age who swallow and aspirate certain oily liquids containing hydrocarbons. When these products enter the lungs, chemical pneumonia can develop and cause death.
These household products are found in many homes and have the capacity to kill children. Examples of household products and cosmetics covered by the new packaging regulation include some baby oils; sunscreens; nail enamel dryers; hair oils; bath, body and massage oils; makeup removers; some automotive chemicals (gasoline additives, fuel injection cleaners, carburetor cleaners); cleaning solvents (wood oil cleaners, metal cleaners, spot removers, adhesive removers); some water repellents containing mineral spirits used for decks, shoes, and sports equipment; general-use household oil; and gun-cleaning solvents containing kerosene.
If these products contain 10 percent or more hydrocarbons by weight and have a low viscosity (i.e., are "watery"), they will have to be in child-resistant packaging. Thicker products are less likely to be aspirated. When a child aspirates a large amount of one of these substances into the lungs, there is not much a doctor can do. They can cause a pneumonia-like condition, irreversible and permanent lung damage, disability and even death.
Medical science has found no method yet for safely removing these oily substances from the lungs. It is estimated that it would only cost half a penny to 2 cents per package to make these products child-resistant.
CPSC is aware of five fatalities of children under 5 years old from 1993 to date involving aspiration of hydrocarbon products. CPSC data for 1997 through 1999 revealed an estimated 6,400 emergency room visits involving children under 5 years of age who ingested household chemical products that frequently contain hydrocarbons that can pose an aspiration hazard. In addition, data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers for 1993 through 1999 revealed 11,115 potential aspiration exposures to cosmetic and household products containing hydrocarbons. We know that child-resistant packaging saves lives. But since the packaging is child-resistant, not childproof, parents also need to keep baby oil and other potentially poisonous substances locked up and out of the reach of children.
Debbie Wilburn is County Agent/Family and Consumer Science Agent with the Hall (770)535-8290 and the Forsyth (770)887-2418 County Extension Service.
Monday
August 4th, 2025
12:00AM
