Advertisement
Parents Ring Poison Helpline O...

News

Parents Ring Poison Helpline Over Concerns About Paracetamol


Share this article


There were almost 1,300 calls to a helpline last year about children being given too much paracetamol.

There were also hundreds of calls about them consuming household products, like washing-up liquid and firelighters.

The queries were made to the National Poisons Information Centre in Beaumont Hospital.

New figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show the substances they took calls about last year, relating to children.

The main agent was paracetamol, with 1,288 calls. That was followed by the medication ibuprofen, which is in nurofen tablets - with 625 calls.

In many cases, children accidentally consumed household products.

“We would all think that we have things protected at home but to a small child, a green, white and red liquid tab for the washing machine can look very like something they would enjoy as a sweet,” GP Ciarán Ó Fearraigh said.

There were also 98 calls about dishwasher tablets in 2022, 69 about washing up liquid, 56 about firelighters, and 142 about hand cleansers.

 

Follow @98FM on Twitter for the latest Dublin news


Share this article


Read more about

National Poisons Information Centre Paracetamol

You might like