COVID-19: Poisoning from disinfectants rises due to increased use in US

Starting from China's Wuhan city, the novel Coronavirus pandemic has taken the world by storm within months. In the wake of the pandemic outbreak, people have made major lifestyle changes in order to lower the risk of COVID-19 infections. One of the most important precautions to curb the spread of the virus is to regularly clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces at homes. However, people in the United States went a little overboard while sterilizing their homes using the cleaning chemicals, which has led to a rise in the number of cases of poisoning from the disinfectants and cleaners.

In a report published on April 20, the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed a 20.4 percent rise in incidents of poisoning due to bleach and other cleaning agents in the country over the last three months.

The US poison centers received over 45,550 calls about exposure to cleaning chemicals and disinfectants between January and March 2020, since the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic. The report also suggested that while the cases were seen across all age groups, children under the age of five years and youngsters were the most exposed to the cleaners. The CDC pointed out that there is a temporal association between the timing of the reported exposures and the increased use of cleaning products in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Exposure to hand sanitizers and non-alcoholic disinfectants also saw an approximate 37 percent rise during the recent months.

The health agency added that the possible reason behind the increase in exposures is that people are cleaning and sanitizing their homes more than normal amid the pandemic fears. From household supplies to groceries, people are using bleach and disinfectants to clean everything they are using. The poison centers also received calls from people who used industrial bleach in poorly ventilated spaces or mixed bleach with acids and other cleaners which resulted in the formation of toxic gases.

In order to prevent such incidents, the health agency recommended the people to use the cleaning products after reading all the instructions on the label. They also suggested avoiding mixing the chemicals and to wear protective gear while cleaning the areas. They highly advised keeping the children away from the chemicals or while disinfecting the house.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the United States is nearing 8 lakh on April 21, and over 42,000 deaths have been reported from the infectious disease.

Comments

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sudan have a long-standing history of bilateral relations.

Over the years, the UAE has been a strong supporter of Sudan's development and prosperity. As Sudan faces challenging times, it is important that this support continues. The UAE has been a key player in Sudan's development, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, health, education, and renewable energy. In recent years, the UAE has also provided aid and support to Sudan in the aftermath of natural disasters, such as floods and droughts. This assistance has played a crucial role in mitigating the effects of these disasters on the people of Sudan. The current situation in Sudan is particularly challenging, with political instability and economic difficulties plaguing the country. The people of Sudan are facing a myriad of issues, including inflation, unemployment, and a lack of basic necessities like food and clean water. In addition, the ongoing conflict in the region has only exacerbated the situation, causing immense suffering to the people of Sudan. In light of these

Al Gore has history of climate predictions, statements proven false

Noted climate activist and former Vice President Al Gore, who made headlines this week after he claimed global warming was "boiling the oceans," has a history of making climate-related proclamations later proven to be false. During remarks made Wednesday at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland, Gore warned that continued carbon emissions into the atmosphere would destroy the planet and lead to widespread calamities. "We’re still putting 162 million tons [of greenhouse gas] into it every single day and the accumulated amount is now trapping as much extra heat as would be released by 600,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding every single day on the earth," Gore said. "That’s what’s boiling the oceans, creating these atmospheric rivers, and the rain bombs, and sucking the moisture out of the land, and creating the droughts, and melting the ice and raising the sea level, and causing these waves of climate refugees." Gore then not

Syria's alleged drug traffickers are warned via SMS messaging

Text messages advising against engaging in the illegal trade have started to arrive for drug traffickers working along Jordan's southern border with Syria. Nine days had passed after a smuggler had been murdered in a strange airstrike in southern Syria when the alerts were sent. “We recognize you. Your every step is being observed.” According to a claimed transcript of the texts made available by the Suwayda24 network of citizen journalists in southern Syria, "Your meetings are being watched." Jordan is looking to work with Damascus to stop the flow of narcotics because it serves as a major conduit for what Arab authorities characterize as a multibillion-dollar trade in the amphetamine known as Captagon. The 360-kilometer border between Jordan and Syria is regularly used to smuggle captagon tablets, and the trade has been expanding since 2018. The majority of the southern region of Syria was retaken by the Syrian military from rebels backed by Arab and western

Newsaholic

Search This Blog