Comment: Danger lurking under the sink

It is incredible to think that something so seemingly harmless as liquid detergent capsules could pose a danger to the vision of young children should they burst and go into their eyes.

Yet there has been a worrying incidence of chemical injuries being recorded, at least in the case of Guy's and St Thomas' Poisons Unit and London's Western Eye Hospital. Ophthalmologists from the Western have reported in the BMJ (March 2) that at least 40 per cent of ocular chemical injuries in children under five at their hospital were as a result of the dissolvable capsules.

It is unlikely that many parents know that the agents used in the capsules, which tend to be colourful and squidgy and therefore attractive to younger children, dissolve in water to give an alkaline solution which can cause irreversible damage. Ocular irrigation of the eyes can reduce the risk of significant injury and the authors of the report conclude that greater consumer awareness of the danger is needed.