[Poisoning by chemical substances and products]

Abstract

Exposure to chemical substances results in a multitude of poisonings or suspected poisonings every year. Poison centres (PCs) advise the public and medical staff on these issues and register cases in their databases. Additionally, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) maintains a case database with notifications reported by attending physicians within the framework of the Chemicals Act.This article describes important poisons from the field of chemicals and products and gives an example of poisoning risk management for a new product group. For this purpose, exemplary case information published in the annual reports of different PCs and the cases notified to the BfR were examined.An overview is provided on the product groups leading most frequently to poisonings and requests to the PCs. The spectrum of poisonings registered by the BfR and PCs differs clearly between reporting persons, route of exposure and severity. Substance groups with a relatively high risk compared to other chemical substances and products are highly concentrated detergents, acids and alkalis as well as carbon monoxide.PCs and the BfR databases contain valuable information to estimate the frequency and severity of various poisonings. By merging these data in a national poisoning register, new risks would be discovered more quickly in the future and a national overview of poisoning events would be gained.

Keywords: Carbon monoxide; Corrosion; Household products; Intoxication; Laundry detergent liquid caps.