• Blog
  • Maryland Poison Center
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
eAntidote
Blog of the Maryland Poison Center
  • Blog
  • Maryland Poison Center
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
Home  /  Poison Prevention Press • Poison Safety  /  A Wrapped Gift – Holiday Poison Safety
16 December 2024

A Wrapped Gift – Holiday Poison Safety

Emily Alcohol, Cannabis, Carbon Monoxide, Food Poisoning, Holiday Safety, Plants, Toy Safety, Traveling Leave a Comment
Lighted background with present wrapped in blue bow with decorative pine and white berries

As we quickly approach the holiday season, we’d like to take a moment to share something with you – a wrapped gift of all the resources we have created over the years to ensure you and your family have a poison-safe holiday season! Without further ado, let’s unwrap these holiday poison safety tips.

 

Carbon Monoxide

Cold temperatures during the holiday season call for turning on your household heat, and if you’re lucky enough to have one, warming up around the fireplace. With the use of these devices comes the risk for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. CO is a colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas. Common sources of CO include gas or oil furnaces and fireplaces. The risk for CO poisoning increases during the winter months due to the use of furnaces, fireplaces, and portable generators and heaters. During the colder months people also warm up their cars before getting in. If you do this be sure to pull the car out of the garage first. Even with the garage door open, a running car can still create CO. Review other important safety tips in our CO information sheet and our CO blog.

Food Poisoning

The holiday season is a time to gather with friends and family to celebrate, which also includes sharing food! Food poisoning is caused by contamination during preparation, not being cooked to the right internal temperature, not being stored at the right temperature within two hours of preparing, and eating leftovers after a specific period of time. For general information about food poisoning, visit our Preventing Food Poisoning blog. If you’re making a turkey this holiday season, we have a turkey-specific blog.

Toys

As we purchase toys for the holiday season, there are a few important items to be on the lookout for. Toys that have magnets or button batteries are a risk if the magnets or button batteries can be easily removed. The Consumer Product Safety Commission monitors toy safety and reports on any hazards that can lead to a recall. For more information on toy safety, visit our Toy Safety for Your Tiny Tots blog.

Alcohol and Cannabis

Alcohol is commonly served at holiday gatherings. If there are children attending the gathering, have guests keep a close eye on their alcoholic beverage and not leave it somewhere a child can reach it. Another thing to keep in mind regarding alcohol during the holiday season is hidden sources of alcohol, including extracts used for baking. More information about alcohol and hidden sources can be found in our alcohol blog.

Cannabis products can also be present during holiday gatherings. Be sure to clearly label any products that contain cannabis as such. Cannabis products should always be stored up, away, and out of sight between uses. The preferred way to store these products is locked up. Children physically react to cannabis differently than adults. Specific symptoms for children exposed to cannabis can be found in our edibles information sheet. We also have additional cannabis resources available, including a general cannabis blog, cannabis edibles blog, and a storing cannabis safely information sheet.

Traveling

Traveling brings an increased risk of poisonings. While traveling, people typically keep their medicine and toiletries in a suitcase. Unfortunately, these can be easily accessed by children, pets, and others. For general information, visit our Poison Safety Tips While Traveling blog, and for specific information about medicine, visit our Traveling with Medicine blog.

Plants

There are popular plants that are staples in holiday decorating. Before you grab a plant to spruce up your holiday decorations, review our Holiday Plants blog to check that it’s a safe choice for your family. The plants we cover are amaryllis, Christmas cactus, Christmas tree, holly, kalanchoe, mistletoe, pinecones, poinsettia, and red anthurium.

 

For a lighter, one stop read on multiple holiday hazards, visit our 12 Days of Poison Hazards blog.

On behalf of the staff at the Maryland Poison Center, I’d like to wish you and yours a happy holiday season.

If you or someone you know has been poisoned or has a question about a poison, we are available 24/7 at 1-800-222-1222. Even on a holiday!

About Author

Emily

Emily is responsible for public education and communications at the MPC. This includes going out in the community, and curating the content on MPC’s social media pages, including, Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, and this blog! Emily loves working with people of all ages, and as a Maryland native, wants to reach out to all Marylanders with our poison safety messages.

Previous Article Poisonings Throughout History: Jake Walk
Next Article Poison Help for Older Adults

Related Posts

  • Cleaning products in and around a cleaning bucket

    Spring Cleaning

  • Young girl outside in the snow holding a pile of snow

    Will Kids Really Eat That? Part Three

  • Happy senior couple looking through window at home.

    Poison Help for Older Adults

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Tags

About Us Adults Alcohol Antifreeze Button Batteries Cannabis Carbon Monoxide child-resistant packaging Children Cigarettes Cleaning Products E-cigarettes Food Poisoning Grandparents Hand Sanitizer Historic Poisonings Holiday Safety Home Laundry Pods Medicine Medicine Disposal Medicine Safety Nicotine Nurse Older Adults Over-the Counter Parents Personal Care Products Pharmacist Plants Poison Expert Poison Exposures Poison Myths Poison Safety Pre-Teens Safe Storage Seasonal Specialist in Poison Information Supplements Swimming Pools Teens Toxicology Fellowship Toy Safety Traveling Vaping

Join Our Mailing List!

Stay up to date on trending poison topics by subscribing to our monthly newsletter. Click here to subscribe.

Recent Posts

  • Cleaning products in and around a cleaning bucket
    Spring Cleaning April 24, 2025
  • Young girl outside in the snow holding a pile of snow
    Will Kids Really Eat That? Part Three February 28, 2025
  • Happy senior couple looking through window at home.
    Poison Help for Older Adults January 29, 2025
  • Lighted background with present wrapped in blue bow with decorative pine and white berries
    A Wrapped Gift – Holiday Poison Safety December 16, 2024

Social Media

Comment Policy

We welcome your comments. Please note that this is a moderated blog. All comments will be reviewed before they are posted, which will result in a delay in the posting of comments. Please leave comments that are respectful and useful. Malicious, anonymous, and promotional comments will not be posted. We reserve the right to remove comments from the site at any time.

For more information, please review the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s Social Media Code of Ethics. 

If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please contact us.

Instagram

View on Instagram

Maryland Poison Center (@mdpoisoncenter) Instagram photos and videos

Recent Posts

  • Cleaning products in and around a cleaning bucket
    Spring Cleaning April 24, 2025
  • Young girl outside in the snow holding a pile of snow
    Will Kids Really Eat That? Part Three February 28, 2025
  • Happy senior couple looking through window at home.
    Poison Help for Older Adults January 29, 2025
  • Lighted background with present wrapped in blue bow with decorative pine and white berries
    A Wrapped Gift – Holiday Poison Safety December 16, 2024
© Copyright 2014 Maryland Poison Center. Theme by BloomPixel. | Privacy