Impact of product safety changes on accidental exposures to liquid laundry packets in children

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics, exposure characteristics, level of care and medical outcome of all accidental exposures to liquid laundry packets by period of ASTM safety standard implementation.

	Baseline period exposures 01 July 2012– 30 June 2013 (n = 10,229)	Transition period exposures 01 July 2013– 31 December 2016 (n = 43,507)	Post period exposures 01 January 2017– 31 December 2018 (n = 20,206)	All exposures 01 July 2012– 31 December 2018 (n = 73,942)
Age (categorical)
<2 years	4227 (41.3%)	18,541 (42.6%)	6467 (32.0%)	29,235 (39.5%)
2 to <4 years	4930 (48.2%)	20,633 (47.4%)	10,985 (54.4%)	36,548 (49.4%)
4 to <6 years	1047 (10.2%)	4231 (9.7%)	2712 (13.4%)	7990 (10.8%)
≤5 years (estimated age^a)	25 (0.2%)	102 (0.2%)	42 (0.2%)	169 (0.2%)
Gender
Male	5307 (51.9%)	22,600 (51.9%)	10,807 (53.5%)	38,714 (52.4%)
Route of exposure^b
Ingestion	9248 (90.4%)	38,560 (88.6%)	16,555 (81.9%)	64,363 (87.0%)
Ocular	1357 (13.3%)	6626 (15.2%)	4589 (22.7%)	12,572 (17.0%)
Dermal	1047 (10.2%)	5191 (11.9%)	3437 (17.0%)	9675 (13.1%)
Other or unknown	33 (0.3%)	184 (0.4%)	106 (0.5%)	323 (0.4%)
Aspiration (with ingestion)	45 (0.4%)	146 (0.3%)	46 (0.2%)	237 (0.3%)
Level of HCF care and outcomes^c
Received HCF evaluation	4241 (41.5%)	16,830 (38.7%)	6835 (33.8%)	27,906 (37.7%)
Admitted to HCF	458 (4.5%)	1621 (3.7%)	394 (1.9%)	2473 (3.3%)
Major medical outcome^d	64 (0.6%)	130 (0.3%)	26 (0.1%)	220 (0.3%)
Death	1 (<0.1%)	2 (<0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (<0.1%)
Major effect	63 (0.6%)	128 (0.3%)	26 (0.1%)	217 (0.3%)

^a ≤5 years is an estimated age category in National Poison Data System used when specific age cannot be recorded.

^b Multiple routes can be reported for each case.

^c Clinically significant outcome categories of HCF Evaluation, HCF Admission, and Major Medical Outcome were not mutually exclusive.

^d Major medical outcome included exposures resulting in major effect or death.

HCF: healthcare facility.

Figure 1. Frequency of all accidental exposures to Liquid Laundry Packets by level of severity. *HCF: healthcare facility; Clinically significant outcome categories of HCF Evaluation, HCF Admission, and Major Medical Outcome were not mutually exclusive. Each horizontal line represents exposures with a different level of severity category. The vertical lines represent the start/stop of the baseline, transition, and post periods. The lower panel represents a subset of the top panel, displaying only HCF admissions and major medical outcomes.

Figure 2. Liquid laundry packet sales. The vertical lines represent the start/stop of the baseline, transition, and post periods.

Figure 3. Sales adjusted rates of all accidental exposures to liquid laundry packets by level of severity. *HCF: healthcare facility; Clinically significant outcome categories of HCF Evaluation, HCF Admission, and Major Medical Outcome were not mutually exclusive. Each horizontal line represents sales adjusted exposures with a different level of severity category. The vertical lines represent the start/stop of the baseline, transition, and post periods. The lower panel represents a subset of the top panel, displaying only HCF admissions and major medical outcomes.

Table 2. Cumulative sales adjusted rates of all accidental exposures to liquid laundry packets in children <6 years old by period of ASTM safety standard implementation.

	Baseline period Cumulative rate per 1,000,000 packets sold	Post period Cumulative rate per 1,000,000 packets sold	% Change (95% CI)
All exposures	4.920	2.094	−57.4% (−58.5%, −56.4%)
HCF evaluation	2.026	0.708	−65.0% (−66.4%, −63.6%)
HCF admission	0.218	0.041	−81.4% (−83.8%, −78.7%)
Major medical outcomes^a	0.030	0.003	−90.9% (−94.3%, −85.5%)

^a Major medical outcomes included exposures resulting in major effect or death.

HCF: healthcare facility; CI: confidence interval.

Data availability statement

The data used for this analysis are available from the American Association of Poison Control Centers.