Are teens actually ingesting Tide Pods? Poison Control sees ‘large spike’ in calls

In the first fifteen days of 2018, poison control centers handled as many cases of teenagers who intentionally exposed themselves to laundry pods as the centers did in all of 2016.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers said that in 2018 they have handled 39 cases of 13- to 19-year-olds who have exposed themselves to the dangers of ingesting the pods. In 2017, they handled 53 cases among the same age demographic.

This increase comes after the Tide Pod Challenge went viral in 2018 as teenagers began posting videos of themselves biting into Tide Pods. The challenge consists of filming yourself as you bite – and even chew – a Tide Pod.

“The ‘laundry packet challenge’ is neither funny nor without serious health implications,” said Stephen Kaminski, the association’s CEO and executive director, in a statement. “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.”

Known effects of ingesting a laundry pod include seizures, comas and even death, according to the statement.

Over the past five years, poison control centers have received over 50,000 calls relating to liquid laundry pod exposures, according to the statement. Unintentional misuse by children under 5 made up the majority of the calls.

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Are teens actually ingesting Tide Pods? Poison Control sees ‘large spike’ in calls."