A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Monday found that Americans may be increasingly unsure about what household cleaners are safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. Between January and March, the 55 poison control centers operating nationwide received 45,550 exposure calls related to cleaners and disinfectants, a 20 percent increase in calls from the same period last year.
Certain products seemed to be specifically driving the increase, including bleach, non alcohol disinfectants and hand sanitizers, with the most common exposure route being inhalation. The report goes on to detail two cases, one in which a woman soaked her groceries in a bleach mixture, then later developed difficulty breathing that required a visit to the ER. The second case centered on a preschool-aged child who “was found unresponsive” after consuming an unknown amount of ethanol-based hand sanitizer, leading to a blood alcohol level of 273 mg/dL — more than three times the legal limit for driving in most states.
In order to prevent more increases in calls to poison control centers, the CDC recommends reading all labels of cleaning supplies and not mixing them. To help give even more advice on how to stay safe, Dr. Kavita Patel, a Yahoo medical contributor and a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, spoke with Yahoo Life about what you need to know to stay safe.