Tide Pod Challenge … one challenge to avoid

January 18, 2018, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Tide Pod Challenge … one challenge to avoid

Have you heard about the Tide Pod Challenge? All the teens are doing it, but parents can do something about it.

Tide Pod Challenge is a new social media trend where teens are uploading videos of themselves biting into the brightly-coloured pods.

Launched in 2012, Tide Pods have faced criticism by parents for their resemblance to candy. 

In 2016, CBC reported that over a thousand children cases were reported, with two deaths caused by the laundry packets.

What has become a running joke on Twitter and Instagram, is now becoming a serious health problem as CBC reports 40 cases of laundry pod ingestions having occurred this month.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/social-media-tide-pod-challenge-laundry-detergent-1.4490168

Time Magazine has reported that the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has posted a health and safety meme on Twitter, warning people not to eat laundry pods with the “#preventpoison”.

http://time.com/5104225/tide-pod-challenge/

Laundry detergent, along with other household cleaning products, is listed in the Top Ten Common Poisons for all ages.

Tide Pods are made with a chemical called 1,4-dioxane which can be known to cause eye and nose irritation along with kidney problems.

Some of the side effects reported from ingesting Tide pods include vomiting, diarrhea and coughing spells. Reports note that the pods can also cause long term breathing problems if the detergent is accidentally inhaled.

While the Tide Pod Challenge presents a lot of issues for parents, it does present a learning opportunity. The challenge can be used to teach kids about a greater issue that everyone faces; poison safety, and what to do in case of accidental (or intentional) ingestion of poison.

If a parent doesn’t know where to begin this conversation, the Tide website is a good place to start.

Tide provides safety tips online on how to use, dispose and manage their laundry pods. They also provide information on what to do incase a pod is eaten and have included a landline number for Poison Control.

https://tide.ca/en-ca/how-to-wash-clothes/how-to-do-laundry/safety

For further tips and information, parents can always go online to the Ontario Poison Centre website for information on the latest news on poisonous materials and new teaching material can be found. Information packages can also be ordered.

http://www.ontariopoisoncentre.ca/get-help-now/Canadian%20Poison%20Centres/-canadian-poison-centres.aspx

Remember, the most important steps you can take when handling anything poisonous is to keep it out of sight and out of reach of children. If a child does swallow a laundry pod, have them drink a glass of water or glass of milk, and immediately contact the Poison Control Centre or your doctor.

Like many other social media trends, the Tide Pod challenge will soon end. If parents take the time now to teach their kids about poison safety, then teens will be less likely to pick their poison or join in on dangerous internet trends.

Prepared by Ariel Deutschmann

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

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