Schumer wants children kept from eating gel pods

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

Accidental poisonings from squishy laundry detergent packets sometimes mistaken for toys or candy landed more than 700 U.S. children in the hospital in just two years, researchers report.

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer is calling for better packaging to keep children from eating dishwasher and laundry detergent gel pods.

The New York Democrat wants the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, American Society for Testing and Materials and top detergent companies to put child safety caps on the packaging.

Small and brightly colored, pods are attractive to children, and some mistake them for candy.

Schumer cites a recent study in the medical journal Pediatrics, where researchers found that in the last two years more than 17,000 children under age 6 have eaten concentrated detergent or gotten it in their eyes, with 750 hospitalized.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, there had been 2,950 cases nationwide of children aged 5 and younger swallowing detergent gel pods.