Poisons centre to the rescue

Do not store chemicals in soft drink bottles, do not leave nicotine chewing gum near children, and do not give your child ant-killer if they have just eaten ants.

These are some of the tips from the Dunedin-based National Poisons Centre, which receives about 35,000 calls, and thousands more internet inquiries, each year.

But ant-killer?

"Yes," said office manager Lucy Shieffelbien. Staff once received a call from a mother who was so concerned about "ants jiggling inside" her child, she fed them ant-killer.

Cases involving children made up fewer than half of all phone inquiries, with those younger than 3 often getting into household products such as air fresheners, detergents and rat poison.

Children over the age of 3, who tended to be better climbers, were often the subject of calls involving therapeutic agents often found in medicine cupboards, such as anti-inflammatories, antihistamines, homeopathic remedies and oral contraceptives.

Other common concerns included silica gel, unidentified mushrooms, bubble blowing mixture, paracetamol and black nightshade.

New Zealand health authorities were alerted following a spike in calls concerning a potentially harmful substance or product.

A new toilet freshener, which looked like a lolly once it had been applied to the toilet bowl, sparked a flurry of calls as it presented a choking hazard to young children.

The manufacturer was notified and the product's labelling changed.

Public health officials in Dunedin were also notified when a counterfeit health product appeared in a city discount store.

"The product was non-compliant, and therefore potentially quite dangerous, because if you don't know what's in it and you accidentally ingest it you could be in trouble," Poisons Centre director Dr Wayne Temple said.

Other recent spikes included children eating nicotine chewing gum and lozenges.

"One or two of these sticks for a young child is potentially quite harmful," Dr Temple said.

After last month's Christchurch earthquake, there was an increase in the number of calls where people had accidentally ingested motor vehicle fuel after siphoning petrol.

The Poisons Centre, which was set up in 1964, also helped get removed from sale some items being abused by people, such as a sedating antihistamine, Benzylpiperazine (BZP) and nitrous oxide.

Many household items listed the centre's number and, in return, manufacturers supplied the centre with information on what their products contained.

But for those wanting to protect their child or pets, a simple mantra to remember was: "Out of reach, out of sight".

That applied to child-proof containers, which gave parents a false sense of security.

The containers were designed to slow children down if they tried to open them, rather than stop them completely.

"They can open them. If you made a container that couldn't be opened by children, than most adults couldn't open them," Ms Shieffelbien said.