More Canberrans are ending up in hospital from accidental poisoning, as child safety experts warn of the risks of unsuspecting household objects like hand sanitiser and dishwashing tablets.
A poisoning hotline has also revealed the top substances involved in calls from the ACT in the past year.
Accidental poisonings in the ACT skyrocketed in 2021-22, according to new data by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The territory's accidental poisoning mortality rate rose 28 per cent compared with the previous five years.
It had the second-highest rate of any state or territory, at 7.3 people per 100,000, behind only Western Australia.
The NSW Poisons Information Centre said in 2023 it received 4183 calls from the ACT, which was a small decrease from the previous year.
"ACT calls have been steadily increasing over the past nine years, in line with national data," a spokesperson said.
Top substances involved in ACT related calls 2023
- Paracetamol
- Ibuprofen
- Ethanol
- Quetiapine
- Bleach (Hypochlorite based)
- Sertraline
- Diazepam
- Fluoxetine
- Hand Sanitiser
- Clonidine
AIHW data shows that nearly 1600 Australians died from accidental poisoning and almost 9000 ended up in hospital. The severity of cases also appears to have gotten worse.
While only about 4 per cent of hospitalisation cases in 2012-13 were put on ventilation, this doubled to 8 per cent in 2022-23.
Children most vulnerable
Children under the age of five are the most likely to die or be sent to hospital after being accidentally poisoned in Australia.
More than 1000 calls from the ACT to the poison hotline in 2023 related to toddlers aged between one and four years.
And approximately half of ACT calls related to adults and elderly patients, which is consistent with national statistics.
Products commonly left within reach of little fingers, like hand sanitiser, dishwashing detergent and toilet bowl cleaner, were among the most common substances poisoning under fives nationwide in 2022.
That age group had 563 exposures to essential oils and nearly 500 to multivitamins.
Children aged five to 14 were often poisoned by melatonin - which is used in sleep tablets - glow sticks and cough medicine.
Prevention better than cure
KidSafe ACT CEO Francis Ventura said parents and carers should keep any potential poisons 1.5 metres above the ground.
"They need to be completely inaccessible," he said.
"Medicines and any other household chemicals ... they cannot be anywhere near children anytime, particularly kids under five."
Mr Ventura said locking a cupboard was not enough to prevent children from accessing poisons.
Parents also needed to be mindful of their handbags, which can contain medicines, vitamins and hand sanitiser.
"Don't ever refer to medications as being lollies, particularly if you're trying to get kids to take medicines because otherwise they might [think all medicines are lollies]," Mr Ventura said.
He said making sure poisons were properly labelled would prevent older children from being harmed.
"People will transfer different chemicals into bottles that happen to be not for chemicals," he said.
He gave the example of cleaning products put in a milk carton or soft drink bottle.
"I know that has happened before," he said.
He also said children could break into vapes, so they needed to be carefully stored.
Children should be kept away from the dishwasher and homeowners should ensure any house or garden plants are non-poisonous.
The poisons hotline recommends people always measure medicine doses with a syringe when administering to children and write down when the medicine dose was given.
They also said to put medicines away immediately after use and not keep medicines in the fridge unless instructed to do so by the pharmacist.
The common killer
Seven per cent of the calls to the NSW poison hotline from nationwide callers were about paracetamol, an over-the-counter medicine used for mild to moderate pain and fever.
It is the key ingredient in Panadol, and is also found in cold and flu medicines.
An overdose can damage the liver and cause coma or death.
Tuggeranong had the highest rate of accidental poisonings in the ACT, followed by Weston Creek, Molonglo, Woden Valley, Belconnen, South Canberra, Gungahlin and then North Canberra.
Symptoms of poisoning can include nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, tummy pain, burns or damage to the mouth or oesophagus.
Call triple zero or go to the emergency department in a suspected poisoning.
Other injuries
There was a decrease in other injuries in the ACT, the new institute data also revealed.
There were fewer assaults, falls and transport accidents resulting in hospitalisation.
The ACT also had fewer falls causing death.
Institute data shows Canberra East has the highest rate of injuries leading to hospitalisations in the ACT, followed by Weston Creek, Uriarra-Namadgi and Tuggeranong.
Gungahlin residents appear to be least accident prone.
In most regions falls were most likely to cause injury, followed by contact with objects and transport.
- Poisons Information Line - 131126
