ACI Statement: Continued Efforts to Reduce Unintended Exposures to Liquid Laundry Packets in Children

Washington, D.C. – February 18, 2019 – The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) and detergent manufacturers are encouraged by the positive trend of multiyear efforts helping millions of people use liquid laundry packets safely. The data show significant reductions in incident rates across all measures. We will continue our efforts to ensure safe product use and to reduce the rate of young children’s exposures associated with liquid laundry packets even further.

Our actions have been impactful. Progress is demonstrated two-fold according to the ASTM liquid laundry packets study comparing exposures from 2012/13 to 2017. Based on the greater availability of liquid laundry packets, there has been a sustained downward trend in the rate of unintended exposures – a 53% decrease from 2012 to 2017. Further, nearly one-in-five of the accidental exposures result in no symptom classification, and when accidents do happen, the health impact is significantly decreased.

A safety standard was developed by a multi-stakeholder group working through the standards-setting body ASTM International. The group dictated a set of package and product design interventions and labeling changes, which manufacturers have put in place to lead to the decline of unintended exposures and keep children safe. These include: i) Label features such as safety icons and warning information, ii) Package features like zips that require greater dexterity to open or caps that necessitate force greater than a child is capable of generating to open, iii) Packet features that include delayed dissolution and bitter-tasting film.

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