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!
Leave a Reply