MONTREAL -- The number of potentially harmful exposures to cleaning products and hand sanitizers has jumped amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among children aged five and under.
Quebec’s poison control centre has received more calls since the beginning of the pandemic – in March, it received 559 for cases involving exposure to household products, up 133 cases from the same period of the previous year.
Bleach caused the most problems, with 149 reported cases – an increase of 266 per cent from last March. When it comes to hand sanitizer, 49 cases were reported, which represents a 63 per cent increase from last year.
Exposure in this case could mean the person got the product in their eye, swallowed it, inhaled toxic fumes or got it on their skin.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020.
