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Laundry Detergent Pod Lawsuit

Austin Kirk

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Thousands of children, as well as some adults with dementia, have suffered serious and potentially life threatening injuries from laundry detergent poisoning caused by single use pods or capsules, which have been sold without adequate warnings or safety precautions to prevent young children from accessing and placing the packs in their mouths.

LAUNDRY DETERGENT PACK LAWSUITS: Potential product liability lawsuits were reviewed and evaluated by lawyers for children who have suffered laundry detergent poisoning from pods or packs sold by a number of different manufacturers.

AboutLawsuits.com is no longer reviewing new claims related to laundry detergent pods. This page is maintained for informational purposes only.

Laundry Detergent Pod Lawsuit

OVERVIEW OF LAUNDRY DETERGENT POISONING RISK: Laundry packs are single-load use capsules filled with detergent that are dropped into the washing machine with each load. They are meant to be convenient and less messy, allowing consumers to avoid the need to use measuring cups to determine the appropriate amount of detergent for each load.

Manufacturers have decided to sell laundry packs in packaging that often resembles candy, with many of the pods featuring bright colors and an exterior that is similar in texture and appearance to teething rings or other infant toys.

Since the introduction of laundry detergent pods, poison control centers nationwide have received thousands of calls involving children, as well as adults with dementia, placing the packs in their mouth, often resulting in severe illness and in several cases causing death.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers reported 6,216 exposures were reported in 2012 and that nearly 5,000 children were exposed to some brand of single-use laundry detergent pod in the first half of 2013 alone.

In August 2012, a seven-month-old Florida infant died after consuming one of the pods. The industry says it is currently in the process of developing voluntary safety standards for the pods in order to improve child safety.

In early 2017, a study published in JAMA Ophthalmology warned that there are an increasing number of child eye injuries linked to laundry detergent pods as well.

An article published by Consumer Reports in June 2017 also warned that adults with dementia appeared to be at risk as well.

Concerns spiked again in early 2018 following dozens of reports of teens intentionally eating laundry pods as part of an internet challenge.

In November 2012, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a laundry detergent pod poisoning safety alert to highlight the poisoning risk for children. The CPSC issued the following recommendations for parents:

  • Do not let children handle laundry detergent pods
  • Keep detergent pods sealed in their original packaging, and ensure that they are locked up, out of sight and reach of children
  • Call Poison Help immediately at 1-800-222-1222 if the packets were swallowed or if exposure to the eye occurred.

New industry standards for laundry pods were announced on September 4, including changes to make the packaging less attractive to young children, make the materials harder to tear open or chew on, and coating the pods with bitter flavoring designed to deter children from continuing to try to bite into them. However, critics have called for the CPSC to enact tougher, mandatory standards.

As a result of their unsafe design, children have suffered injuries and death due to exposure to laundry detergent pods. A number of individuals throughout the United States pursued compensation through a laundry detergent pod lawsuit as a result of the manufacturers’ failure to properly design these detergent pods.

Tags: Laundry Detergent Pod

9 Comments

Brandi
I’ve always used gain detergent,last week I noticed small bumps under my 4years old grandson and now it has spreader to whole body me and his mother took him to the doctor and the doctor said was a energetic reaction to something,I just seen a post on Facebook and pictures of a lady who posted the same reaction on her body and the child and also her post was about the gain detergent so after reading the post and looking at the pictures my grandson has been exposed to the same reaction to the product.I would like to know what’s my next step in this matter
April
Went washing and pod burst in my eye
Larry
I live in Indiana where I feel corporate business as Proctor and Gamble is protected from personal injury suits for selling unsafe products. I have had first hand experience with the so called Tide Pods. Back in August of 2017 I went to work on what seemed to be typical work day. It was a hot day in the wood shop and was wearing new safety boots. About mid day or so my right foot began feeling over heated. I brushed it off as new work boots on a hot day. We were extremely busy that day or I would have taken the boot off to let air to my foot. Could not wait to get home to take the new boots off. When I finally did and removed the boot and the white work sock my right foot began to experience an excruciating burning sensation. I did not know what was going on. I immediately went to the bathroom and put my foot under the tub’s faucet. It give me some temporary relief. I examined my sock and it had a bluish spot on the area where my foot would have made contact. I instinctively smelled the spot. It smelled like soap. The only laundry detergent used in our household at the time was Tide Pods. As long as I rinsed my foot with cold water there was slight comfort. By morning I decided to see my doctor. It was a chemical burn caused by the Tide Pod residue. Apparently it had not completely dissolved in the wash cycle. I received a severe burn that has caused permanent nerve damage. Two law firms later and a judge declaring no negligence on the the part of Proctor and Gamble. At one time they wanted to settle out of court for lost wages and medical bills. I guess I should have taken what they offered. I just wanted my day in court. A judge shot that down.
Russel
I wore a pair of boxers all day with a tide laundry pod stuck to the inside of them. By the time I realized after sitting on the plastic tide pod for 10+ hours.. I developed a chemical burn on my left ass cheek and it’s bubbled/burned… let’s take this to court!!
Todd
I am sorry for any person who has been injured by these products, but as with any chemical it should be safely stored. Any miss treatment of the product including squeezing the pods and causing them to burst is on the individual. They are being used in a manor not intended. Where have the days gone where parents secured their house and put Mr Yuck stickers on the bad stuff. No company should be responsible for the proper use and storage of their product in your personal house.
David
Soap hasnt been produced for years detergents are made from petrochemicals these are the most toxic and dangerous products in the home but they are advertised as safe Many children adults pregmant women pets elderly suffer imjuried from these products and inhalation can cause more damage than consuption. 12 Epa listed toxic waste ingredients that are illegal to dispose of are contained in some brands. Many imjuries and even deaths go unoticed or misdiagnosred costimg health providers and insurers additional costs by everyone. The BTX complex of solvents found in detergents have been detected in a babys cord blood. Any hoisehold product will find its way into the food chain from misusages and disposal If you cant eat it dont use it bevause you will be eating it anyways. Some restaurants use these detergentd to clean the fish rags for their wash sinks but some of the toxins are rated as unsafe at any level. The toxic sludge ends up at the sewer treatment plant and is then sprayed onto food crops. The producers-of these chemicals which can be 100 times more deadly than second hand smoke in rare cases, provided the governmentd cost per life based risk assesment data. The concentrated products are overused 10 to 13 times on average. Seniors have grown accustomed yo using 2 or 3 cups of product for decades now the load ratimgs are based on one tablespoon of concentrated product. This makes overusage rampant. The dryer vent exhaust contain chemicals that are not safe for a smokestack to emit. Yet you believe thr largest corporation in the world will watch out for you before their profits
kristie
I call bullshit on all you parent bashers, these have happened to adults too, even older children. My 15 year old was handling these pods and just this week one ruptured with such force that it ended up in his eye, he’s suffering from the entire top layer of his cornea being burned off. The day after (even with 15 min of rinsing) his eye was so raw and crusted over he couldn’t open it. The opthalmologist treated him with a amniograft on his left eye. We can only hope and pray that tomorrow when it is removed that there is no scarring and no vision loss as he already suffers bad near sightedness. These are incredibly dangerous, even those with the most common sense can become injured!
Joe
I really have to agree that chemicals of ANY KIND, are the responsibility of parents to keep out of access by your children. Think where, and why, your cutlery is stored and why it is not on your kitchen floor, or on your table, or on the living room table. Would you sue the makers of carving knives if you left them in reach of your child and they cut themselves and bled out while you were ignoring your responsibility to watch and care for them? If you cannot uderstand that it is your responsibility to protect your children then maybe your not mature enough to have them.
Meri G
Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Why are these boxes of pods accessible to child within the home? They should be up on a shelf, out of reach of the child. Shame on the parents that leave chemicals, like Tide, in reach of little ones hands and mouths. As well, shame on these lawyers taking these cases. The parents, as a consumer, made the decision to purchase this product and it’s the parent poor judgment to leave out the chemical in reach of the child that has harmed their family. This has nothing to do with the Tide and their product. They should not have to put labels on their product to tell people this is soap and it has harmful chemicals in it to clean your clothes and that it is not a toy for your child to play with or eat. People it was your fault that your child played with the pods and ate them and I feel really bad if you child has been altered physically or mentally by the consumption of the soap but you only have yourself to blame. Tide didn\’t come in your house, gave you the soap and left in a spot for your child to eat it. All this is, is either a get rich on the death of your child or you want to make the company feel bad for what your poor judgments, your lack responsibility for protecting your family made you feel and passing blame to Tide so you can feel better. I ask where were the parents or baby sitter that was not watching over the child to allow that much time to pass for that pod to dissolve in a child’s mouth. Just so you all know before you think I don\’t have children, I do and I have a dog too, which is just like having another toddler and none of my family have had any issue like this because chemicals in my house are out of reach or watch over when they are within reach. I would never sue a company over something I did.

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