While talking with the poison control center about Adam's "gummy vitamin feast", the woman seemed very concerned as to whether or not the vitamins contained iron. I didn't asked her what would have happened had they contained iron, but I have since researched the answer to that question.
What I found has mortified me and made me realize how blessed we are that there was no iron in these vitamin "candies". I now know why she was so concerned about the iron. This is what I found:
"Accidental iron overdose is a leading cause of poisoning deaths in children under 6 in the United States. Almost 17 percent of children's deaths reported to the poison control centers during a recent four year span were due to iron poisoning."
"The iron products involved in the poisonings ranged from non-prescription daily vitamin/mineral supplements for children to high-potency iron supplements for pregnant women. In some cases, the iron products were left within the child's reach in uncapped or loosely capped containers. In others, the child managed to open the container, even though in some cases it appeared to be in child-resistant packaging. In some cases, a sibling opened the container."
"The children were poisoned after consuming as few as five iron-containing tablets. Death occurred from ingesting as little as 200 mg of iron."
I personally take iron supplements daily for iron enemia. The tablets are in a child-proof bottle (which doesn't necessarily mean Adam-proof!), but after reading this they have been moved to a much safer location. I had no idea.....
6 comments:
Wow. How scary! That's an amazingly high number of chidren that die from overdose; it must really do some damage. I am quite interested to know just exactly what it does though. (I think it has to do with liver damage...)
Thank heaven those vitamins didn't have any iron... give Adam a big hug and a kiss for me!
Thank you for sharing that important information. That is very scary! I have had vitamins with extra iron in my bathroom closet for...eight years now...all the time I have had children. I will be putting them on the highest shelf now!
scary! I am so glad those didn't contain iron. I am going to check my children's vitamins and make sure they are well hidden if they are fortified with iron. If Adam found them when he was playing here, ooh the thought makes my skin crawl!
I hope he gets to stay in June! Tom thought it was crazy if he went with you guys.
I had no idea. Thanks for the information. Good to know.
I take Viactiv Calcium chocolate chews...and there are times I could quite happily overdose on them...but not iron tablets!
Wow...who'd have thought that something so good for you could be so dangerous! Thanks for the warning!
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