• Home

Alert Sounded Over 
Absence of Warning 
Labels on Products

The health warnings were issued after a survey carried out by the Abu Dhabi Health Authority’s Poison and Drug Information Centre (PDIC) found out that majority of the cleaning products available in the market were corrosive and despite this fact, they did not have child resistant packaging or any warnings.

Many of the products also did not carry any warnings in Arabic or were incorrectly translated. It was also found that no local contact numbers of manufacturers were present on the product in case a consumer wanted to lodge a complaint.

Based on the outcomes of the survey, the authority is calling upon UAE legislators and registration agencies to adopt rigorous standards for packaging, including enforcing child resistant containers and caps as well as making labelling in Arabic mandatory.

“Accidental poisoning is most common in children, especially toddlers,” explained Dr Yasser Sharif, Head Medication and Medical Product Safety at HAAD, who headed the survey along with his team.

“We have seen cases where children have ingested the acidic liquid in a split of a second that the mother has turned away,” he said while describing the nature of the cases the centre had received.

Though UAE-wide figures are not available, the PDIC data in 2009 showed that children were involved in 54 per cent (32/59 cases) of all poison exposures while unintentional household ingestion by both children and adults represented 17 per cent (10/59 cases) of all exposures.

Unlike medicines and cosmetics, containers of cleansers, bleaching agents and drain openers are usually stored under sinks in kitchens, within the reach of children, said Dr Sharif. These products are the most corrosive and exposure to them can cause mucosal damage and permanent scarring with different levels of intensity, he added.

In addition, parents often disregard the potential toxicity and the warnings on the labels of these products, or store them in new containers, thus increasing the risk of unintentional poisoning amongst children, he explained.

“We had a case in which a woman put a clear cleaning agent in a glass. Thinking it is water, her husband put his dentures in the liquid only to have his entire mouth burnt when he put them back in,” he said citing an example of accidental toxic injury.

The Household Products Survey carried out in Abu Dhabi last year tested 126 randomly selected products including surface cleaners, bleaching agents, detergents, miscellaneous items including toilet deodorizers and cleaners, drain openers; hair strengtheners, colouring and hair removal products; cleaning wipes, pesticides and rodenticides and moth balls.

Out of the 66 products that were tested, 25 (38 per cent) were corrosives. Seventy six per cent of the products that are commonly sold in the UAE market did not have a child resistant packaging. Among corrosive household products, 16 were not child resistant representing 16 per cent of the total surveyed household products (100 products).

A great number (46 out of 100) of English labelled products did not provide clear purpose of use while directions for the proper use and safe storage condition were missing in 26 products. Necessary cautionary information (corrosive, irritant or poisonous) was missing in 50 products of which 10 were corrosive products.

“Keep Away From Children” statement was missing in 32 products while first aid measures in case of eye exposure, ingestion or inhalation were missing in 46 products.

The survey also found that Arabic translations for the instructions and warnings are not translated correctly from the English information. In addition, the Arabic translations were only available for 73 per cent of the products compared with 100 per cent for English.

In addition, some important information such as, “Keep away from children”, “Directions for proper use”, and “First aid Information” was not translated into Arabic despite the presence of the information in English.

Samia Shaikh, a working mother of two said that the survey was an eye-opener. “I know that some products are harmful but after this information, I will be extra careful in storing these products since I have two small boys.”

According to Dr Sharif, raising awareness among the public and adapting legislation are among the strategies that can prevent such risks. In 1970, the USA enforced the Poison Prevention Packaging Act after physicians considered poisoning by such products the leading cause of injuries in children under five and at least 500 deaths in a year. Similar measures were later adapted in countries such as Brazil, Turkey, Canada as well as many European countries.

Fast Facts

• Highly corrosive chemicals, such as hydrochloric acid and hypochlorite bleach, are the key ingredients in toilet bowl cleaners
• Ammonia and lye, ingredients of oven and carpet cleaners, (which are also corrosive) can cause burns to the skin and eyes and respiratory problems
• Furniture polish, which contains volatile petroleum distillates, can cause dermal and pulmonary toxicities
• Similarity in shapes between some household products and candy or sugar, such as moth balls, may encourage children to lick or even swallow them

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE