KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Consumer Reports on Thursday announced that it will no longer recommend liquid laundry detergent pods.
The announcement comes in spite of warnings to parents the number of children poisoned or injured by the pods is on track this year to surpass last year’s totals.
In a demonstration from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, some kids believed fake laundry detergent pods were candy or even doughnuts. Researchers say that kids found pods enticing, and some of the bags are easy to get into.
“It was a made-for-disaster situation from the very beginning,” said Dr. Stephen Thornton with the Poison Control Center at the University of Kansas Hospital.
Doctors say the concentration of detergent and the packaging under pressure make the pods dangerous when children bite into them.
“They kinda explode, and the next thing you know the stuff is going into the lungs and there is something in it—they think it’s an alcohol-type substance that causes kids to basically become sedate or pass out,” said Dr. Thornton.
He has seen children with severe breathing trouble. The pods can also cause eye or skin burns when they burst. So far this year, the poison control center has received 86 reports of those poisonings or injuries. Nationwide, there have been more than 6,000 reports.
Both numbers are on pace to surpass last year’s totals.
Consumer Reports says it no longer recommends the liquid pods, and that households with children under six should skip them altogether. Manufacturers are taking steps such as making the pods harder to break open and adding a bitter taste.
But Dr. Thornton thinks they should be taken off the market.
“We did fine before laundry pods came along and we’ll do fine after they’re gone,” said Dr. Thornton, who says if you do have detergent pods treat them like a drug—keep them locked up.
