CDC: Chemical Exposure Reports on the Rise Amid Intensified Cleaning Efforts

April 22, 2020

Citing an instance in which a woman was hospitalized after soaking her produce in a solution made of bleach and vinegar, researchers affiliated with the CDC and the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported that complaints of chemical exposure in recent months were higher than in years past. The study compared report counts made to fifty-five US poison centers in the first three months of 2020 with reports made during the same intervals in 2018 and 2019, finding that “the daily number of calls to poison centers increased sharply at the beginning of March 2020 for exposures to both cleaners and disinfectants.” Reports increased by 16.4% from 2018 and 20.4% from 2019, illustrating a temporal link to the widespread use of cleaners and disinfectants amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report cautioned that the data do not provide evidence of causation, but noted that the sharp uptick in poisoning complaints corresponded to the onset of media coverage and government responses to the pandemic, as well as the ensuing shortage of such products available for purchase. A second example described in the report featured a young child who spent two days in a hospital intensive care unit after swallowing hand sanitizer from an open bottle.

Source: Chang A, Schnall AH, Law R, et al. Cleaning and Disinfectant Chemical Exposures and Temporal Associations with COVID-19 — National Poison Data System, United States, January 1, 2020–March 31, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 20 April 2020. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6916

Katie Pincura, DrPh, MPH, MA

Katie Pincura, DrPH, MA, MPH is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Assistant Professor of Health Sciences at Western Carolina University, College of Health and Human Sciences, School of Health Sciences. Dr. Pincura is a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Her research focuses on the intersection of healthcare policy and public health.

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