By Beth De Santis

Liquid detergent pods with their bright colors and squishy texture are almost irresistible to toddlers and young children.

But these highly-concentrated single load products present a serious health hazard, prompting the American Association of Poison Control Centers to issue an alert about their potential danger.

During the first half of this year, poison control centers across the country received more than 6,000 reports of children under 5 ingesting, inhaling or getting pod contents on skin or in their eyes.

Because these liquid packets are designed to dissolve in water, they can easily release concentrated detergent when they come into contact with wet hands or mouths.

Some children who have gotten the product in their mouths experienced excessive vomiting, wheezing and gasping. Others have had serious breathing problems that required needing a ventilator.

Consumer Reports this month warned against liquid laundry detergent pods for households with children younger than 6.

The independent, non-profit consumer product testing and research organization no longer recommends any type of liquid pod on its list of laundry detergents because of growing safety concerns.

Safe Kids Worldwide offers the following tips for liquid laundry detergent packets:

• Keep liquid laundry packets out of children’s reach and sight.
• Store packets in their original container and keep the container closed.
• If a child gets into liquid laundry packets, immediately call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222.

Read more and see helpful videos on Safe Kids Worldwide here.

Read the entire Consumer Reports article here.