Three weeks into 2018, at least 14 people in Utah have called poison control for help after ingesting or being otherwise exposed to toxic laundry detergent pods.
In a normal year, Utah Poison Control will receive about 200 calls for possible laundry detergent pod toxicity. The vast majority of those cases involve children under 6 years old, the center’s outreach educator Sherrie Pace said.
“They’re very, very colorful. They’re very attractive. So little kids want to get their hands on them,” Pace said.
The challenge began as an online joke, tapping into people’s innate and then-unspoken desire to eat the shiny and smooth, purple and orange candy-like pods.