Injury Prevention Topics of Interest
Poison Prevention

A poison is anything that someone eats, drinks, breaths in, or gets in their eyes or on their skin that can cause illness or death; poisons can be solids, liquids, gases, or aerosols. Poisonings are a significant cause of injuries and deaths in the United States; millions of people are poisoned every year. Poisonings are the third leading cause of unintentional injury deaths as well as suicide deaths in the U.S.

The documents below provide basic information on poisonings and prevention.

Parent's Safety Checklist

• Parent's Poisoning Prevention Checklist (PDF)

Safety Presentation

• Poison Prevention Presentation (View Online)
• Poison Prevention Presentation (Download as MS Powerpoint)

Research Papers

• Poisonings Description and Introductory Information (PDF)
• Poisonings Description and Introductory Information (MS Word)

Links of Interest

• Poison Prevention - Links to Related Websites (PDF)

Source/Contact Information
This area of the Safety section of the website was developed by Wendy J. Pomerantz, M.D., M.S.

Poison Prevention Links

Poison HELP! Call 1-800-222-1222 for questions about poisons and poisonings. Information on the hotline and the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

Did you know?

Bike helmets have proven to be the single most effective safety device in reducing head injury and death in bicycling crashes. Helmets reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent.

Head injuries incurred while riding a bike result in two-thirds of hospital admissions and more than 60 percent of the bicycling deaths.

Nearly 362,000 children annually are treated in emergency departments throughout the United States with bicycling injuries and one-third of the visits are head injuries.