Safekids New Zealand
Media Release
2 July 2007

NZ Children Now Safe from Caustic Dishwashing Powders

New Zealand homes just became safer for young children as dangerous highly caustic dishwashing powder formulations were forced off supermarket shelves yesterday.

Prior to 1 July New Zealand regulations allowed the sale of caustic dishwashing powder products which can cause severe injuries and burns to the mouth, throat and airways when ingested.

Now only products with a lower and safer pH level of 12.5 or less will be permitted, instantly reducing the severity of injuries to children.

Safekids New Zealand first called for improved controls on automatic dishwashing powder in January 2004 after intensivists at Starship Hospital raised concerns over the number of young children being admitted after ingesting dishwashing powder.

Ann Weaver, Director of Safekids NZ, welcomes the implementation of the new regulation and congratulates the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) for acting on the concerns raised by Safekids NZ.

"Too many children were unnecessarily suffering horrific injuries as a result of ingesting caustic dishwashing powder, says Ms Weaver.

"It has been a long process but is extremely rewarding to know that if a child does ingest dishwashing powder now they won't suffer the extreme injuries previously seen."

Joshua Ward was just 19 months old when he used a ride on toy to reach dishwashing powder on the kitchen bench and swallowed it leaving him with a severely damaged airway.

Two and a half years on and almost 50 operations later Joshua still has a tracheotomy, is tube fed and requires 24 hour care.

Joshua's family has supported Safekids campaign for tougher regulations on caustic products and is relieved that no other family will have to go through what they did.

"This is a huge achievement and in a sense closure for us to know that no other child will be severely injured as a result of caustic dishwashing powder," says Joshua's mother Lara.

In March 2006 Starship Hospital published a research paper focusing on serious injuries from dishwasher powder ingestions in small children including those of Joshua.

The paper stated that serious injuries were preventable simply by reducing the pH levels in products, as alkalinity levels were responsible for determining the severity of injuries.

When this issue was highlighted Government responded positively and ERMA developed a new Group Standard which would see caustic dishwashing powder removed from the market and the new Group Standard was adopted in June 2006.

Manufacturers were given one year to reformulate or introduce new, safer products with a pH level of less than 12.5.

Despite the new regulations Safekids NZ reminds families that automatic dishwashing powder is still a product that needs to be kept out of reach of children.

"We urge parents to remember standard safety measures for all chemicals or hazardous products kept around the home and for them to continue to secure lids safely, store products well out of reach and stop wandering hands," says Ms Weaver.

Safekids New Zealand is the injury prevention service of Starship Children's Health. For more information on child safety and injury prevention visit www.safekids.org.nz.

ENDS

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