Pediatric Toxicology: Selected Ingestions

Button Batteries

Button battery ingestions are challenging ingestions and are often harmless; however, there can include a risk of death. Determining the time of ingestion and location of the battery in the GI tract is key to early diagnosis and treatment.  A battery lodged in the esophagus can cause necrosis within 2 hours of ingestion (Terango & Liu, 2016).

Laundry Pods

In 2011, the introduction of brightly coloured, concentrated capsules (pods, tablets, sacchets) of laundry detergent varieties appeared in North America. These mixtures are usually composed of an anionic detergent, a cationic surfactant, and a nonionic detergent surrounded by a polyvinyl alcohol membrane. All brands contain irritants and some also contain alkaline substance. To complicate matters, each manufacturer uses different ingredients (Bonnie, Mazor, & Goldman, 2013) and they are fairly resistant to activated charcoal due to its pH!