Laundry Detergent Pods: Lawsuit Details, Side Effects, and News

Single-load laundry detergent pods were introduced to the U.S. market in 2011. Detergent in the brightly colored packets, sold under such names as Tide Pods, Purex Ultra Packs, and All Mighty Pacs, is released when it mixes with liquids. which is why infants and toddlers are poisoned because their saliva mixes with the detergent’s chemicals. In May 2012, the U.S. Centers for Disease Controls (CDC) and the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) began tracking laundry detergent pod poisoning due to the increasing number of reports of children 5 and under becoming ill after ingesting the packets.

Children who ingested the pods were hospitalized due to:

  • Loss of consciousness
  • Excessive vomiting
  • Drowsiness
  • Throat swelling
  • Difficulty breathing (requiring intubation)
  • Severe eye irritation
  • Temporary loss of vision due to ocular burns

According to the American Association of Posion Control Centers, poison control centers received reports of 9,932 exposures to highly concentrated packets of laundry pods by children 5 and younger to date in 2017. [http://www.aapcc.org/alerts/laundry-detergent-packets/].

According to the Center for Disease Control, children who suffered laundry detergent pod poisoning either swallowed the packet, bit into a pack and swallowed a mouthful or bit into a packet, orbreathed the product into their lungs and rapidly developed symptoms that required hospitalization. [https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6141a1.htm].

A nationwide study, published in the December 2014 issue of Pediatrics, found 17,230 children under the age of 6 were exposed to laundry detergent pods from March 2012 to April 2013.  Children under the age of 3 accounted for nearly 74% of the cases reported. The most common exposure was through ingestion. There was one report of a child’s death. The study also found that laundry detergent pod exposure increased by 645 percent from March 2012 to April 2013, then dropped by 25 percent from April to December 2013. According to the report, the most common side-effects displayed by children exposed to the pods were lethargy, vomiting, choking, eye pain or irritation, and conjunctivitis (red eye). The study concluded that increased efforts are needed, such as improving packaging and labeling of the products, to prevent exposure of young children to laundry detergent pods. [pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/6/1127.full, December 1, 2014]

Laundry-Pod Poisonings Piling Up – Wall Street Journal

“Poisonings and other accidents involving concentrated laundry-detergent packets remain a serious problem in the U.S., despite changes made to packaging and labeling” as reported in The Wall Street Journal. [https://www.wsj.com/article_email/laundry-pod-poisonings-piling-up-1431632747-lMyQjAxMTA1MDE2NDcxNTQ0Wj]

Wright & Schulte is currently representing the families of infants, young children, and the elderly in laundry pod lawsuits from injuries to the eye and mouth, throat burns, and even death from to laundry detergent pods exposure.

Contact a Laundry Pods Attorney

The attorneys of Wright & Schulte work every day to preserve the rights of personal injury victims, one case and one client at a time. If you or a loved one are were injured by a laundry pod a and you’re looking for a personal injury law firm that will guarantee the caring, personalized, and loyal representation you deserve, please do not hesitate to contact Wright & Schulte today. For a free, no obligation legal evaluation of your case, fill out the online form, or give Wright & Schulte a call, toll-free, at 1-800-399-0795.

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