Candy or Poison?

March 24, 2016

What harm could come from dying Easter eggs with my nieces and nephews?  Certainly my sister could trust me with her children for a few hours?  These thoughts raced through my head as my adorable 3 year old niece sweetly asked me for more blue candy.  I knew there was no blue candy, yet her mouth, lips and chin were brightly blue!  I felt myself panic as I looked around and realized that she had ingested a blue dye tablet.  Immediately I dialed Poison Control and was relieved to discover that (of course) the tablets are not toxic. They gave me a heads up that she may have a blue mouth for a while, and indeed she did. Fortunately there was no permanent harm; however I am preparing myself yet again for the annual jokes about my questionable babysitting skills.

Poison Control is an amazing service that is completely free and available 24/7.  The Georgia Poison Center can be reached by dialing 404-616-9000. The Center is staffed by poison specialists and board certified toxicologists are on call for back up.  They have a wonderful website where you can Live Chat with urgent concerns, email non-urgent questions, and read about topics from poisoning prevention to rabies.

As a pediatrician, I have answered many questions about potential ingestions but my colleagues at Poison Control are the true experts.

http://www.georgiapoisoncenter.org/

My hope is that you will learn from my mistake, and keep anything even potentially toxic (especially if it looks like candy!) out of sight and reach.