Holiday Hazards
The Nebraska Regional Poison Center wishes you a happy and
safe holiday season!
The Nebraska Regional Poison Center offers the following tips for preparing your
home during the holiday season:
- Keep hazardous plants, decorations, and gifts out of reach of small children or
pets.
- Clean up immediately following all holiday parties so that alcohol and other potentially
harmful items are not within reach of young children.
- Remember, prevention is the best treatment for poisonings.
Plants:
It’s best to keep Jerusalem Cherry plants, ivy and boxwood far above the reach
of curious admirers. All parts of the mistletoe plant are toxic. Holly berries have
caused stomach upset, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Pine needles can be very irritating
to the mouth and can lodge in the windpipe. It’s best to avoid purchasing
toxic seasonal items for your home. Substitute nontoxic alternatives whenever possible.
View the Poisonous and Non-Poisonous plants on our site.
Decorations:
- Angel hair is spun glass. If you use it at all, keep it high out
of reach. It can cause irritation to the eyes, skin and mouth.
- Bubble lights contain methylene chloride and this chemical can
cause drowsiness, and in large quantities it can cause seizures.
- Fireplace colors can contain a variety of heavy metals such as
lead, copper, arsenic, barium and selenium. Stomach upset with vomiting is just
one of the many problems these metals can cause.
- Snow Sprays may produce nausea, vomiting, headache and drowsiness.
These symptoms may develop from inhaling the fumes. Make sure you ventilate the
room and take frequent breaks when applying snow sprays.
- Christmas tree preservative solution contains primarily glucose
but some formulations may include small amounts of fertilizers and iron salts. These
have the potential to cause stomach and oral irritation.
Gifts:
Don’t leave presents under the tree after they’reopened. A child may
drink a gift of liquor, perfume or aftershave containing concentrated alcohol. These
products can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sleepiness, stupor and low blood
sugar in children. Other gifts such as radios, cameras, and games can contain button
batteries which can cause drooling, difficulty swallowing and difficulty breathing
and if ingested.
The Christmas Turkey:
- Thaw in the refrigerator, allowing one to three days for complete thawing. If time
isn’t allowed, immerse the bird in water-tight wrapper in cold water, continue
adding ice to avoid turkey reaching room temperature.
- Wash hands thoroughly before dressing the bird to minimize chance of contamination
from bacteria on hands.
- The safest method to determine when the turkey is cooked is to place a meat thermometer
inside the thigh muscle (or thickest part of breast). It should read 180-185 degrees
for normal turkey. For stuffed turkey, place thermometer in the stuffing. The thermometer
here should register at 165 degrees.
- After cooking, remove the stuffing. Do not allow stuffing to cool inside the turkey.
- Refrigerate turkey, gravy, and stuffing after meal. Room temperature is not sufficient.
If you suspect your child has been poisoned, call the Nebraska Regional Poison Center
immediately, 1-800-222-1222 or in the Omaha area 955-5555.
Happy Holiday's!