Poison Prevention
The Overdose Epidemic
Poisoning – particularly from overdoses of over-the-counter, prescription and illicit
drugs – has surpassed falls to become the nation’s second-leading cause of unintentional
death, after motor-vehicle collisions. With and 80 percent increase from 2001 to
2006, poisoning is the fastest-rising cause of accidental death in the United States.
Unintentional Poisoning from Overdoses
While most people think of poisoning as a childhood issue, adults are overwhelmingly
to blame for the steep recent increase in unintentional poisoning deaths.
Between 1993 and 2003, there was a 107 percent increase in the unintentional poisoning
death rate from overdoses among Americans ages 20 to 64. In Washington state and
the District of Columbia, overdoses have surpassed motor vehicle crashes to become
the leading cause of unintentional death.
Drug-related poisonings are often due to overdose or misuse of opioid analgesics
initially prescribed to treat chronic pain, such as oxycodone, methadone, hydrocodone,
fentanyl and buprenorphine. While the greatest number of these deaths is occurring
among white men ages 45 to 54 – up nearly 6,000 in a decade – poisoning death rates
are increasing fastest among white women – up more than 300 percent.
The National Safety Council has issued a report on “Trends in Unintentional Poisoning
Deaths and Death Rates” that details the steep increase in these deaths.
Click here for the 2008 summary.
Call to Educate
A survey
conducted in fall 2007 by the National Safety Council revealed that most Americans
(81 percent) still believe that children are at greatest risk for poisoning. Less
than 4 percent said adults, though data shows that less than one percent of fatal
poisoning deaths in 2004 affected children (ages 0-5) and more than 96 percent involved
adults (19 years and older).
The need for public education is clear. When asked to rank potential causes of poisoning
in the Council’s fall 2007 survey, 53 percent of people surveyed said household
chemicals were most commonly associated with fatal poisoning while just 34 percent
named drugs and medicine.
Poisoning and Children
While children rarely die today from unintentional poisoning,
non-fatal poisonings remain a childhood concern.
About 50,000 children under the age of 4 are injured by unintentional poisonings
every year.
This is testament to the success of national awareness efforts, such as poison prevention
campaigns and child-resistant packaging.
What Poisons?
In addition to drugs, accidental poisonings can be caused by:
Household chemicals
Medicines
Environmental
