'Tide Pod Challenge' Prompts Warning From Poison Control

Have you talked to your teen about the Tide Pod Challenge?

It's a bizarre and potentially deadly social media phenomenon and it is prompting police and health officials to issue warnings. The strange fad entails teenagers filming themselves ingesting the laundry detergent pods and then posting the videos on social media.

But while the teens may think it's funny and amusing, authorities say it's far from that.

On Wednesday, The American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) issued a warning about the dangers of ingesting laundry packets.

"The ‘laundry packet challenge’ is neither funny nor without serious health implications,” said Stephen Kaminski AAPCC’s CEO and Executive Director. “The intentional misuse of these products poses a real threat to the health of individuals. We have seen a large spike in single-load laundry packet exposures among teenagers since these videos have been uploaded.”

The brightly-colored pods, which can resemble candy to some children, contain a highly toxic mix of ethanol, hydrogen and polymers that is far more dangerous when ingested than traditional laundry detergent. At least 10 deaths have been attributed to the pods, according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, and the American Association of Poison Control Centers said that in 2017, there were more than 10,500 reported exposures to the highly concentrated detergent by children age 5 and younger — those were accidental, unlike injuries to teens in the so-called challenge.

Here are five things to know about the Tide Pod Challenge craze:

How did the Tide Pod Challenge start? It seems to stem from a post on the satirical website The Onion picturing a little boy under the headline "So Help Me God, I'm Going To Eat One Of Those Multicolored Detergent Pods." The tongue-in-cheek post followed a report from the American Association of Poison Control Centers that the laundry packets pose a serious risk to children. The craze gained more traction with College Humor's "Don't Eat the Laundry Pods," which shows a college student gorging himself before ending up on an emergency backboard, where he proclaims "I don't regret it."

What happens when you eat a laundry detergent pod? Some children who have gotten into the pods have experienced excessive vomiting, wheezing and gasping, and some have had such severe breathing problems that they had to be put on a ventilator, according to the AAPCC.

Who else is at risk? The nonprofit consumer organization Consumer reports said the laundry detergent pods can be lethal to adults with dementia who may mistake them as edible. An 87-year-old Texas woman with dementia died two days after eating two packets. She was among six adults with dementia who died under similar circumstances from 2012 to early 2017, the Consumer Products Safety Commission says.

Has anyone called for a ban on laundry detergent packets? No, but organizations have called on manufacturers to create better packaging. The trade group American Cleaning Institute says manufacturers are fully committed to reducing accidental exposure to the products.

What does Procter & Gamble, which makes Tide, have to say about the challenge? Patch reached out to P&G for a comment on the craze. In a statement, the company said: "Our laundry pacs are a highly concentrated detergent meant to clean clothes and they're used safely in millions of households every day. They should be only used to clean clothes and kept up, closed and away from children. They should not be played with, whatever the circumstance is, even if meant as a joke."

If you or someone you know ingests a liquid laundry packet or has a question about the risk of an exposure to one, call a poison control expert at 1-800-222-1222.

This story was reported in part by Patch editor Beth Dalbey

Photo credit: AP Photo/Pat Sullivan