In March, we celebrate Poison Prevention Month in Illinois. In this month’s blog we are going to sing the praises of the Illinois Poison Center (IPC). The IPC provides free poison help and resources for all Illinois resources.  Did your child eat too many gummy vitamins? Bite into a glow stick? Drink a household cleaner because it was the same color as juice or sports drink? Or did you mix cleaning chemicals without realizing it? Take someone else’s medicine by mistake? The p

According to the American Association for Poison Control Centers, children younger than six make up approximately half of all exposure cases that are reported to poison centers. Ordinary household items can pose serious poisoning threats to children. This week is National Poison Prevention Week . Read on for ways to protect children: Laundry Packets : Colorful laundry packets may be attractive to young kids. Store these in their original packaging out of sight and reach of c

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Prevention, Politics, and Policy Andy Rapoport is a student in the Masters of Public Health (MPH) program at Northwestern University, pursuing a concentration in Community Health Research. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, there were several times that our house fire alarm by the kitchen began to beep; thankfully, it was a mere nuisance, due to smoke from cooking, and not from an actual fire. With my grandfather and uncle as former firefighters,

Want to make your home safer for your family in the New Year? Here are a few simple steps. They don't take a lot of time to do and you'll feel a sense of accomplishment when you complete them. 1) Subscribe to product recall alerts. Products are recalled all the time. In the last week, swimsuits, infant rompers, candle holders and ceiling fans were recalled. I would venture to say that you may not have heard about any of them. The fact is that very few recalled products ac

We're still in COVID times and families are home together more than ever. Recently, poison centers are reporting increased calls about unintentional marijuana edible poisonings in young children. The fact is that even though we have laws in Illinois about the shapes of edibles, to curious kids, they look a lot like regular treats. Edibles also contain high concentrations of THC which can be quite dangerous to kids. Parents - please keep you marijuana edibles up high and out

It's National Poison Prevention Week. Here's a story from my family. It was the evening of the 4th of July several years ago and I was at a fireworks display with my family. I looked over at my young son and his whole mouth was glowing in the dark. He had bitten his glow stick. I panicked for a second because it looked so awful - how could something like that NOT be toxic? Then I remembered I had a number in my cell phone contacts that I could call for help. 1-800-222-1222

Question - What's colorless and odorless but definitely not harmless? Answer - Carbon Monoxide (CO). It's that time of year in Chicago when we are all turning on our boilers and furnaces. Once we've turned them on, it's time to make sure we also have working CO detectors in our home, especially near all sleeping areas. Carbon monoxide is created when fossil fuels (like natural gas) are burned. Since we can't see it, taste it or smell it. it's critical to have working CO detec