Liquid tablet forms of washing detergent pose a new household risk to children's eyesight, a correspondence letter in this week's issue of The Lancet has claimed.
Clinicians at the Children's University Hospital, Dublin have called for new packaging to make the products child proof, and improved labels warning of the dangers.
Over a six-month period, Dr Noel Horgan and colleagues at the hospital treated six children with alkali injuries caused by a liquid detergent tablet.
The children, aged 18 months to three years, had squeezed the tablet causing it to burst and spray detergent into their eyes.
The children presented with damage to the cells lining the cornea, and four had significant injury to the conjunctiva.
All patients were admitted to hospital and stayed for two to five days. The damaged eye cells eventually healed. The authors noted that more serious damage may have resulted if the children had not had prompt irrigation of their eyes after the chemical splash.
Dr Horgan said: 'Alkali eye injuries are potentially the most severe form of chemical eye injury. Although the detergent packaging displays a warning that the contents are irritant, and that the products should be kept out of reach of children, the real risk of injury posed may not be appreciated by consumers. We propose that the warning label should be more obvious, and the packaging should be modified to make it child proof.'