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Summary
A poison is any substance that is harmful to your body. You might swallow it, inhale it, inject it, or absorb it through your skin. Any substance can be poisonous if too much is taken. Poisons can include
- Prescription or over-the-counter medicines taken in doses that are too high
- Overdoses of illegal drugs
- Carbon monoxide from gas appliances
- Household products, such as laundry powder or furniture polish
- Pesticides
- Indoor or outdoor plants
- Metals such as lead and mercury
The effects of poisoning range from short-term illness to brain damage, coma, and death. To prevent poisoning it is important to use and store products exactly as their labels say. Keep dangerous products where children can't get to them. Treatment for poisoning depends on the type of poison. If you suspect someone has been poisoned, call your local poison control center right away.
Latest News
- 3 in 4 Youngsters Exposed to Laundry Pod Detergent Suffer Poisoning (07/21/2016, HealthDay)
Prevention and Risk Factors
- Household Safety: Preventing Poisoning (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Medicine Tracker (American Association of Poison Control Centers) - PDF
-
Tox Town
(National Library of Medicine)
Also in Spanish
Treatments and Therapies
- Emergency Checklist (Health Resources and Services Administration)
Specifics
- Alcohol Poisoning (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Chemical Emergency (American Red Cross)
- Cyanide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Facts about Benzene (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- In Case of Pesticide Emergency (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs)
- Mushroom Poisoning (American Academy of Family Physicians)
- Strychnine (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Statistics and Research
- Drug-Poisoning Deaths Involving Opioid Analgesics: United States, 1999-2011 (National Center for Health Statistics)
Clinical Trials
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Poisoning
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal ArticlesReferences and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Dose-response analysis indicating time-dependent neurotoxicity caused by organic and inorganic...
- Article: Serotonin-to-dopamine transporter ratios in Parkinson disease: Relevance for dyskinesias.
- Article: Inequalities in Hospitalized Unintentional Injury Between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Children...
- Poisoning -- see more articles
Find an Expert
Children
- Poison Prevention (American Academy of Pediatrics)
-
ToxMystery
(National Library of Medicine)
Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Poisoning Also in Spanish
- Poisoning first aid Also in Spanish
- Toxicology screen Also in Spanish