Poison Prevention

Take the Initiative in your own home and protect yourself and others from being exposed to poisons by learning what a poison is, who is at risk, and how to prevent a poisoning from happening.

Help prevent poisonings:

• Learn how to poison proof your home and reduce the risk of poisonings.
  • Poisons in the household can include; medicines, Carbon monoxide, household cleaning products, chemicals, food, animals/insects, and plants
• Talk about poisons with your family and household members so others know what to do, too.
• Prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding your home of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.
• Never share prescription medicine.
• Never mix household or chemical products together. Doing so can create a dangerous gas.
•  Keep all chemicals, household cleaners, medicines, and potentially poisonous substances in locked cabinets or out of the reach of children.

To correctly dispose of expired medications make sure to bring them to a drop-off box. There are currently fifteen locations for Ocean County residents to dispose of their unused or expired medications.  The drop boxes are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  For locations and more information visit (https://www.ochd.org/Resources/Page/54 )

If there is an accident and someone in the home is exposed to poisons follow these few initial steps:

• If the person inhaled poison, get to fresh air right away.
• If the person has poison on the skin, take off any clothing the poison touched. Rinse skin with running water for 15 to 20 minutes.
• If the person has poison in the eyes, rinse eyes with running water for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Your poison center can give you other first-aid advice and may save you from a visit to the emergency room.

Immediate Answers
Been Exposed? Speak to a live health expert:

1. Call 1-800-222-1222

2. Explain your situation or symptoms

3. Have the name of the product and container ready or the name of the suspected source of exposure

4. Don’t rely on the Internet

PHU2 wants you to take the initiative and be more informed about poisons and be prepared for exposure. Check your home today to see if your household cleaners are stored out of reach of children. Go through your medicine cabinet to confirm that any expired medications are identified and take the right steps to dispose of them.  For more information you can visit https://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/index.html

Reference:

(2011, October 17). Retrieved March 23, 2018, from https://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/index.html

Learn more on our Environmental Health page.