Study: Kids exposed to chemicals in laundry pods

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A new study shows U.S. poison control centers received more than 17,000 calls, or about one per hour, about children who'd been exposed to chemicals in laundry detergent pods in 2012 and 2013.

Over 700 of the children were hospitalized, and one child died.

"These should be considered highly toxic agents," said Jay Schauben, of Florida Poison Information Center Jacksonville. "They need to be respected in that way, and the child needs to be protected from getting their hands on them at all costs."

Laundry detergent pods are all-in-one packets that contain detergent released in the wash.

Overall, the centers received 17,230 calls about children younger than six who were somehow exposed to the liquid in laundry detergent pods. That's roughly four calls per 10,000 children in that age group.

About a third of the calls involved children between the ages of 1 and 2 years old. About 80 percent of all calls involved children swallowing the pods or their liquids.

"These are part of those products that really need to be contained in an area, locked up, kept out of reach," Schauben said.

Kids have been eating or bursting the pods, which has serious consequences, such as being hospitalized.

Children may think the colorful pods are candy or filled with juice.

"They are very pretty looking, kind of nice bite size for kids," Schauben said. "So if you let them get their hands on them, they may end up in their mouth quickly."

The side effects of exposure include vomiting, coughing and choking, eye irritation or pain and tiredness. Serious side effects include comas, seizures and stomach burns.

Poison Control said make sure to lock up the pods or use traditional laundry detergent.