A mother from Australia warns parents about washing pods after her toddler’s medical nightmare. Her four-year-old daughter, Luca, was hospitalized for 16 days, undergoing three surgeries, after biting a Persil washing pod. The toddler was helping her mother with the laundry when she bit into the pod and accidentally wiped the leaking fluid over her eyes. This led to her eyes becoming swollen, red, and covered in blisters and scabs that broke out days after the exposure. She has since been discharged from the hospital, but she’s been left with partial blindness.
Toddler is Severely Injured from a Washing Pod
Jodi de Groot, 34, is devastated after the incident on March 23rd. After Luca bit the pod, Jodi rushed her daughter to the shower to try to wash out the chemicals. The toddler was “hysterical” and could barely calm down because of the pain. At the hospital, the staff tried four times to flush out her eyes without success before rushing her into surgery. Luca needed two more procedures after the doctors found a defect in her left eye that required an amniotic membrane transplant to aid the healing.
After staying in the hospital for 16 days, the doctors believe the redness around her eyes will reduce over the next 6–12 months. “…Her sight in her left eye isn’t fully there yet but is coming back slowly,” Jodi explained to the Mirror UK. “She has a slight vision impairment. It could’ve been a lot worse. It’s been pretty traumatic. It’s not easy seeing your daughter in so much pain with nothing you can do.”
The washing pod brand is sold as Omo in Australia, but also goes by the name Persil, Dixan, Wipp, and Le Chat, depending on the country. The pod that blinded Luca was their “3 in 1 capsule with comfort freshness”. Although the product warns to keep out of reach of children, Jodi believes the packaging should include a stronger warning after seeing her daughter’s severe reaction.
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“I didn’t realize the extent of injuries they could cause”
“Luca was helping me with the laundry and I gave her the pod just to hold while I put the washing on,” Jodi said. “And by the time I’d turned around, she’d already bitten into it and it went into her eyes. They’re quite solid so when you pop them, they spray. And kids being kids she rubbed her eyes, which meant it went across both eyes. She’s never had the urge to bite before. It’s very out of character for her. She helps me with the laundry a lot but doesn’t normally play with them…”
As she tried to rinse Luca’s eyes in the shower, she read the product’s label. “…It said to ‘seek medical advice’ so I didn’t think it was going to cause much of an issue. She was screaming and really upset. I noticed she wasn’t calming down. She was still hysterical. I called a poison line and asked for advice and they told me to go to hospital.” Therefore, Jodi says the company should tell consumers to go straight to the hospital, not just seek medical advice. “It needs to be more. It’s not good enough how it is. I didn’t realise the extent of injuries they could cause. You wouldn’t think direct contact could cause pretty excessive burns, three surgeries, and 16 days in hospital. There needs to be more awareness on their packaging.”
A spokesperson from Unilever said: “We were deeply saddened to hear about these injuries and have spoken to Luca’s mother to understand what happened so we can investigate further. Safety is always our number one priority at Unilever, and our laundry capsules carry child impeding closures as well as prominent on-pack safety warnings in line with industry guidelines.”
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Tips on Keeping Washing Pods Away from Kids
Unfortunately, Luca’s story is far from unique. Washing pods are a hazard that can cause serious effects, including burns on the eyes, esophagus, and skin, severe vomiting, breathing difficulties, and coma. Manufacturers began creating more secure packages to prevent children from grabbing the contents, although they are fallible. Despite the overall decline of incidences, data from the National Poison Data System shows there were over 114,000 cases of exposure to washing pods between 2014 and 2022, and 86.8% of them were children under the age of six.
“Many families don’t realize how toxic these highly concentrated laundry detergent packets can be,” said Christopher Gaw, MD, emergency medicine physician and faculty of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s, in a press statement. “If you have young children or vulnerable adults in your home, using traditional laundry detergents is a safer alternative.” Other ways to keep kids safe include:
- Store the washing pods high up where children cannot climb and reach, or in a locked cabinet.
- Don’t leave capsules on top of the washing machine or laundry piles.
- Choose washing pods with a bittering agent, such as Bitrex. It’s designed to taste terrible so kids would spit it out instead of swallowing. This can prevent poisoning and esophogus burns.
- Keep the pods in the containers they come with. They are intentionally hard to open to keep kids safe.
In Case of an Emergency
If a child swallows part of the pod, don’t force the child to vomit, since this can worsen the issue. If they have liquid from the pod on their skin or in their eyes, immediately rinse the area for about 20 minutes to flush it out as much as possible. Use a covering or eye pad to stop the child from rubbing as you go to the hospital, says Eye Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Keep track of details medical staff may want to know, such as the time of exposure, the brand of washing pods, roughly how much of the fluid was swallowed/splashed, and all symptoms like difficulty breathing, itchy eyes, pain, etc. In any event, seek immediate medical help.
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