106: Caustics

As early as 1927, legislation in the United States governing the packaging of lyeand acidcontaining products mandated that warning labels be placed on these products. In response to the recognition that caustic exposures were more frequent in children, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and Poison Prevention Packaging Act were passed in 1970; these acts mandated that all caustics with a concentration greater than 10% be sold in child resistant containers. By 1973, the household concentration for child-resistant packaging was lowered to 2%. In addition, the subsequent development of poison prevention education dramatically decreased the incidence of unintentional caustic injuries in children in the United States. The positive impact of both regulatory legislation and public health intervention is evident when observing the decreasing number of significant exposures in the United States compared to the number of exposures in developing nations that lack these policies.