Statewide Iowa — Iowans are being warned against taking part in the latest chain of viral online videos called the Laundry Pod Challenge.
Tammy Noble, a registered nurse and spokeswoman for the Iowa Poison Control Center, says teens and even adults are defying common sense, going on camera and biting into plastic detergent pods. While no deaths are reported in the state, consuming the colorful fluid can cause serious health issues.
Even if it’s being done as a joke and the person never intends to swallow the detergent, biting into the pod will likely make it squirt right down their gullet.
There are also reports of corneal abrasions — scratches to the eyes — when the detergent gets into the person’s eyes. Last year alone, there were more than 10-thousand-500 exposures to liquid laundry detergent packets, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. There are thousands of videos online of people biting these pods, and none of them look like they’re enjoying the experience. What possesses someone to do something so idiotic?
People are also being warned to use extra caution with the products if there are even kids in the house. Curious children might squeeze the packets and get squirted in the face. Registered nurse Joan McVoy says if that blue goo hits them in the eye, you need to act quickly.
Poison center hotlines in Iowa and elsewhere have been receiving a lot of traffic because of the laundry pods.
The packets had been subject of warnings months ago as a child, mistaking the packets for candy, might pop them in their mouth.
The Sioux-City-based Iowa Poison Control Center is averaging about one call per day about the pods. The hotline is available ’round the clock at 1-800-222-1222.
