Reduce Your Child's Chances of Pesticide Poisoning
Poison centers answer more than 4 million calls each year. That’s one call every eight seconds. According to the American Association of Poison Centers, children younger than 6 years old account for about half of the calls placed to poison centers. What’s more, poison center data reported over 150,000 calls made to poison centers with concerns about exposure to common household pesticides. These figures show the need for everyone to lock up pesticides and household chemicals out of children’s reach – preferably in a high cabinet. EPA observes National Poison Prevention Week Exit each year to increase awareness of the danger to children of poisonings from pesticides and household products.
On this page:
- Keep these common household pesticides out of children’s reach
- How children come in contact with pesticides
- Use these tips to help you poison-proof your home
- Additional Resources
- See also
Keep these common household pesticides out of children’s reach:
- bath and kitchen disinfectants and sanitizers, including bleach
- products used to kill mold or mildew
- roach sprays and baits
- insect repellents
- rat and other rodent poisons
- weed killers
- flea and tick shampoos, powders and dips for pets
- swimming pool chemicals
How children come in contact with pesticides:
- Children can come into contact with pesticides stored or applied in their homes, yards, daycares, schools, parks, or on pets.
- Children often touch things (that may contain a pesticide) and put their hands in their mouths.
- They also crawl and play on floors, grass or in spaces that might contain pesticides.
Use these tips to help you poison-proof your home:
- Lock up all pesticides and harmful products in a cabinet, out of a child’s reach.
- Install safety latches on cabinets.
- Read the label first.
- Follow the directions as they are written on the label before using a product.
- Crawl around on your hands and knees to see if you've missed any potential dangers from your child's viewpoint.
- Use child-resistant packaging correctly by tightly sealing the container after every use.
- Re-close a pesticide package if ever interrupted during application (e.g., phone call, doorbell, etc.).
- Make sure the container is completely out of children's reach while you're absent.
- Keep pesticides in their original containers.
- Never put poisonous products in containers that could be mistaken for food or drinks.
- Alert all caregivers about the potential dangers of pesticides and share these tips with them.
- Teach children that “pesticides are poisons” and not to be touched.
- Post the Poison Control Centers Exit national hotline phone number, 1(800)222-1222, near every telephone in your home and program it into your cell phone.
Additional Resources:
- Play It Safe: Reduce Your Child's Chances of Pesticide Poisoning (PDF) (8 pp, 366k, About PDF) provides information on children's exposure to pesticides and ways to prevent poisonings.
En español: Vida Sana: Reduzca la probabilidad de que sus hijos se envenenen con pesticidas (PDF) (8 pp, 366k, About PDF) - Poison-Proof Your Home One Room at a Time (PDF) (2 pp, 160k, About PDF) a checklist which provides a list of activities and action steps that can help parents and caregivers identify sources of pesticide and other household product dangers at home.
En español: Haga de su hogar un lugar de prueba de venenos: Una habitación a la vez (PDF) (2 pp, 160k, About PDF) - Protecting Children in Schools from Pests and Pesticides
- EPA Schools Programs
- Ten Tips to Protect Children from Pesticide and Lead Poisonings provides simple steps to save children from pesticide and lead poisonings around the home.
En español: Diez Medidas Para Proteger a Sus Niños de los Pesticidas y del Envenenamiento Debido al Plomo. - Protecting Children Where They Live
- Protecting Children Where They Learn
- Protecting Children Where They Play
- Protecting Children Where They Work
- More on Children's Health Protection