Childhood Poisoning in Wales: Experience of the Welsh National Poisons Unit (1984)

Abstract

1 In 1984, 60% of all the enquiries made to the Welsh National Poisons Unit in Cardiff concerned children under 15, and 86% of the latter concerned children under 5. Nearly 60% of requests for information in childhood poisoning were about non-medicinal products and this contrasts with hospital admissions which are more often associated with medicinal products in this age group. 2 Seasonal variability was noted for non-medicinal products such as pesticides and plant poisoning enquiries, whereas medicinal product enquiries remained constant over the year. The pesticides enquiries were greatest in Spring while those concerning plants were significantly greater in Summer. The latter was due to increased reports of ingestion of garden plants since the number of enquiries concerning house plants remained constant. Thus availability appears to be a major determinant of the risk of poisoning with any particular product in childhood.