Doctors concerned over detergent pack dangers

BOSTON (WHDH) -- Doctors have raised concerns about detergent packs and their appeal to toddlers and young children.

“It looks like a toy,” said Clinical Manager for Poison Control and Prevention for Massachusetts and Rhode Island Dennis Wigandt.

They are small, colorful detergent cubes. And now, Poison Control officials across the country are reporting a recent uptick in calls about exposures of children to laundry detergents packaged in small, single-dose packets.

“I think your real danger here is the amount that’s available,” Wigandt said.

Proctor and Gamble, the owner of Tide, is just one of the companies that sell the small cubes. Authorities say there have been dozens of reports of children eating the brightly-colored packets and becoming very sick.

“I believe what they’re saying is severe oral irritation. Some children have even required intubation,” Wigandt said.

While Poison Control authorities are concerned about the convenient household product, so is Proctor and Gamble.

“Like any household product, they need to be kept away from inquisitive little hands. Store them on a high shelf, out of reach,” said Paul Fox, Proctor and Gamble.

Proctor and Gamble is planning to switch to child-safe containers this summer.

There have been no reports of children sickened by the detergent packets in New England.