[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 63 (Monday, April 25, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2402-S2403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CHILD POISONINGS FROM LAUNDRY PODS

  Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to use articles 
as examples relevant to the subject of my speech.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. NELSON. Madam President, I rise today to speak about the rapid 
rise in child poisonings caused by single-use laundry products. Earlier 
today, we had an update on the number and severity of these poisonings 
from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It was in an indepth study 
just published in their journal, Pediatrics.
  The news is not very good, because in 2013 and 2014 that academy 
reports that there were over 22,000 child exposures to laundry 
products, resulting in the deaths of at least two children due to the 
chemicals in these pods, and many others have faced serious injury, 
with at least 17 children in that time period going into comas because 
of exposure to these chemicals.
  What am I talking about? This is a laundry pod. It is very colorful 
on the outside, and it smells very good. It is quite soft. Its texture, 
particularly to the touch of an infant--an infant's hand and face--is 
very soft and reassuring. The problem is that if it gets into an 
infant's hand, where is it going to end up? It is going to end up in 
their mouth, and these packages are soluble. So, naturally, the plastic 
exterior is going to dissolve, and all of these chemicals are going to 
end up in the child's digestive system.
  As a result of these pods, we have had two children die, and we had 
22,000 child exposures in that 2-year period the study covers, with 17 
children going into comas. Others have suffered seizures or internal 
burns to their lips, mouths, and the esophagus. If it gets into their 
esophagus and burns, then you have a problem.
  Now, what we have been advocating, Senator Durbin and I, in our 
legislation is to make them as safe as possible and to get the Consumer 
Product Safety Commission involved in these things. This Senator has 
met with the industry. Let me show you some of the things in which, 
indeed, they have made progress.
  This is a detergent pod package, and in order to get in it--and this 
pod came in this packaging--you have to tear it open. That is one good 
thing. They have designed this container so that it would be very 
difficult to get into. Even I am having difficulty getting into it. The 
pods would be in this container--something that would be child proof.
  They designed this container. This has one of those slide bars, such 
as on a plastic sealant freezer package, where you have to push down on 
it and apply pressure in order to get the slide that unzips the seal. 
That is also a good thing.
  But let me show you what the industry is resistant to doing. Children 
are naturally attracted to colorful candy. Here shown on this chart are 
a variety of candies, such as gummy bears, but among all of these are 
interspersed some of these pods. This is one. This is another. This is 
another, and this is another--not unlike the colors on this pod. So if 
we don't have the packaging preventing the child from getting to this 
pod, then we are going to have a problem, which is why we lost two 
children and 17 others went into comas in the last 2 years.
  Now, a lot of people like these products, and so does the Nelson 
family. They serve a very useful purpose. At the same time, we need to 
make them as safe as possible. So why not just remove the color from 
the package and make it less attractive to the child.
  Last year, Senator Durbin and I introduced legislation that would 
require better labeling, more child-resistant packaging and safer 
chemical formulations for these single-use laundry pod products. The 
bill has been referred to our Commerce Committee, and as the ranking 
member of that committee, I am going to talk again to Senator Thune, 
who is the chairman of the committee, to see if we can get the 
committee to take up the bill as soon as possible.
  Earlier this year, we were able to get both the House and the Senate 
to pass legislation requiring childproof packaging for bottles of 
liquid nicotine, some of which had injured children and, in some cases, 
resulted in death as well and had poisoned thousands of others. If we 
could get that done in a bipartisan manner, which we did and that is 
now law, then there is no reason why we can't, in a bipartisan way, 
address the issue posed by this problem. Keeping children safe is not a 
partisan issue. It is just common sense.
  In the interim, we want to encourage the manufacturers to keep 
working on new standards to reduce the poisonings. We appreciate very 
much the efforts at things such as this and this. That is helpful. Last 
week, one manufacturer announced plans to put many of the laundry pods 
they sell into new, more child-resistant packaging. They also announced 
a public education campaign urging parents to keep laundry pods away 
from their children. That is certainly helpful. But at the same time, 
we need to keep working to make these pods less attractive to children 
and, perhaps more

[[Page S2403]]

importantly, make the chemicals inside these less toxic so that when a 
child does get hold of one and it goes into their mouth, it is not 
going to turn into tragedy.
  I thank the American Academy of Pediatrics for their very important 
study, and I look forward to working with our colleagues to put an end 
to the accidental deaths and poisonings that we see as a result of 
these attractive products.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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