Lawn Pesticide Poisoning in Children

Whether you've recently had your first baby or are blessed with many children, there are safety issues that should be addressed so as to ensure your child is given appropriate opportunities to play and explore in a safe environment.

As part of your preparation for a safe home, many new parents will focus upon the interior of the home, placing electrical outlet guards, baby proofing cabinets and doors. Often, however, we fail to safety proof our exterior home and, as a result, many children continue to be at risk for injury or illness.

One such aspect of child safety involves the potential for complications associated with pesticide poisoning. Lawn care is a major focus of many families and it is not uncommon to incorporate our children in the activities at a very young age. In doing so, it is important to secure hazardous chemicals, such as lawn pesticides, in an effort to protect your child from the risk of complication.

Acute pesticide poisoning in an infant usually begins as an onset of nausea and vomiting with burning and irritation to the area affected. For children, if exposure to a lawn pesticide has occurred, medical attention should be sought immediately and the brand name and chemical name of the pesticide should be given to the emergency room staff.

Because lawn pesticides each carry a unique chemical composition, your emergency room staff will generally begin treating a child with standard decontamination until the specific MSDS sheets can be obtained. Decontamination of an acute pesticide poisoning for a child involves flushing of the eyes, respiratory therapy and the application of lavage if your child has ingested the chemical.

In addition to these decontamination techniques, your healthcare professional may also want to use activated charcoal as a therapeutic agent for nausea but is generally not recommended in children who experience diarrhea in response to pesticide poisoning.

Once MSDS sheets can be obtained, the emergency room staff may modify the decontamination techniques based on the specific chemical elements of the pesticide. Without proper intervention, your child may experience life threatening complications including shock, seizure or respiratory complications.

As with any pesticide poisoning, the key to your child's optimal health outcome lies in the early detection of the complication and intervention by an emergency staff that is trained in decontamination processes. At home, when enroute to emergency treatment, use flushing techniques to the eyes, and soap and water to the skin, to provide for a more positive outcome. Ultimately, however, the best outcomes lie in our application of baby proofing techniques in not only the interior of the home but also in the exterior of the home, including the garage.