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Show Child-resistant Packing Is Saving Lives , Are child-resistant safety closures on medicine bottles and other containers safe? Yes, if used properly, according ac-cording to the Intermountain Regional Poison Control Center. STATISTICS indicate that child-resistant caps are effective, effec-tive, reports David Spoerke, managing director of the poison information service at University of Utah Medical Center. In the year following enactment of federal requirements for child-resistant packaging, there was a 44 percent reduction in the number of aspirin deaths. "But safety closures have been the subject of controversy con-troversy from the beginning," begin-ning," says Mr. Spoerke. 'There is a standard joke that if an adult has trouble with a child-resistant cap, he should give it to a two-year-old. Remember that the packaging is child-resistant, not childproof." child-proof." MR. SPOERKE says that proposed safety closures are tested by 200 children and 100 adults. For a closure to passi-test, passi-test, 84 percent of the children, must fail to open the contained before a demonstration, ami j 80 percent after being show how. On the other hand, atJ percent of the adults must &ej , able to open and resecure iM j cap after receiving written j instructions. Packaging incorporating i safety closures is required for j substances in 11 major categories, ranging from as- ! pirin and petroleum distillates dis-tillates to prescription drugs , and flammable materials. w, ! THERE ARE two exempt ! tions to the federal standards: 1 A pharmacist will put medicine in a standard container con-tainer if specifically asked. to j do so. Also, an item of a por j tentially dangerous product line can be packaged without special precautions if it is clearly labeled for use in households without young children. -Persons with questions about safety closures can call the intermountain Regional Poison Control Center at (81) 581-2151 or (outside the Salt Lake area) 800-662-4225. |
