The Poison Control Center closely monitors the calls received each year, tracking the volume, reasons for exposure, top substances involved in poisonings and poison-associated fatalities. This data helps us identify poisoning trends and risks to the public, knowledge that informs community education, awareness and treatment efforts. The following data is based on calls to the Poison Control Center from 2017. View the full 2017 report. Calls to the Poison Control Center The Poison Control Center receives thousands of calls each year from residents in Eastern Pennsylvania, the greater Philadelphia area and Delaware. In 2017, the Poison Control Center received more than 125,000 calls about poison concerns from the public. The charts below detail the breakdown of these calls. Poison Control Center Call Volume by Call Type Total: 125,105 Patient Follow-up (66,961 cases) Human Exposures (51,063 cases) Information (6,217 cases) Animal Exposures (864 cases) The number of calls, by call type, received by the Poison Control Center in 2017. Poison exposure statistics The Poison Control Center works to reduce the number of injuries and deaths associated with poison exposures. In order to achieve this goal and effectively educate the public on poisoning prevention and awareness, it is critical for our toxicology experts to identify new toxic threats and track poisoning epidemics. We collect this data as part of a national, real-time surveillance system. Tracking this information helps us understand the common causes of poison exposures in both children and adults, and why these exposures happen, so that we can focus our efforts on prevention. Reasons for exposure Humans are exposed to poison for a variety of reasons. While some exposures are intentional, the majority of poisonings are unintentional, and can be caused by a variety of substances. Human Poison Exposures by Reason Total: 52,071 Unintentional (43,221) Intentional (7,071) Adverse Reaction (1,114) Unknown (344) Other (321) Reasons for human poison exposures in 2017, calculated by number and type of calls that came in to the Poison Control Center. Many of the unintentional exposures involve children under 6 years of age. Young kids like to explore their environment and imitate adult behaviors, which is why it’s important to keep medications and chemicals locked up tight, out of sight and out of reach of kids. Human Exposures by Age Group Total exposures: 50,679 ≤ 5 Years: 25,037 20 to 59 Years: 12,261 60+ Years: 4,143 6 to 12 Years: 3,985 13 to 19 Years: 2,649 Unknown Age: 2,604 Top substances involved in poisoning exposures Each year, the Poison Control Center documents the substances involved in poisoning exposures and collects this data. Knowing what substances are causing the most poisonings in both children and adults helps us identify new threats, improve our public education, and tailor the poison-specific information we provide to healthcare professionals and public health agencies. The following tables compare the most common substances involved in poison exposures in kids versus adults based on calls to the Poison Control Center in 2017. Top 5 Substances in Kids ≤ 5 years of Age Cleaning substances (household) 2,727 Analgesics 2,362 Foreign bodies/toys/miscellaneous 1,852 Topical preparations 1,252 Antihistamines 1,123 Top 5 Substances in Adults ≥ 20 years of Age Analgesics 2,475 Sedative/hypnotics/antipsychotics 2,175 Antidepressants 1,818 Cleaning substances (household) 1,623 Cardiovascular drugs 1,470 Fatalities Summary Thankfully, many of the poison exposures that we help manage at our Poison Control Center to do not result in serious medical outcomes. Of the 51,063 human exposure calls reported to the Poison Control Center in 2017, 45 ended in fatality. Poison Control Center Fatalities 2013-2017 The number of fatal cases reported to the Poison Control Center between 2013-2017. Fatalities Causes of Poisoning Deaths: All Ages Substance No. of cases Benzodiazepines/Opioids 20 CNS/Psychiatric Medications (Excluding Opioids and Benzodiazepines) 18 Cardiovascular Medications 14 Other 11 Acetaminophen/Cough/Cold/ Allergy/OTC 9 Alcohol/Street Drugs 7 Uknown Drugs 7 Causes of Pediatric Deaths Toxicological Cause of Death No. of cases Smoke/Carbon Monoxide 2 Other/Unknown Narcostics/Street Drugs 2 Antiarrhythmics 1 Dextromethorphan Preparations 1 Diphenhydramine 1 Non-narcotic antitussives (Exclusing Diphenhydramine) 1 Miscellaneous Unknown Drugs 1 Previous statistics and trends Download previous annual reports to find poison statistics and trends from past years based on data collected by the Poison Control Center. 2016 2015 2014 2013
Poison Control Center Call Volume by Call Type Total: 125,105 Patient Follow-up (66,961 cases) Human Exposures (51,063 cases) Information (6,217 cases) Animal Exposures (864 cases) The number of calls, by call type, received by the Poison Control Center in 2017.
Human Poison Exposures by Reason Total: 52,071 Unintentional (43,221) Intentional (7,071) Adverse Reaction (1,114) Unknown (344) Other (321) Reasons for human poison exposures in 2017, calculated by number and type of calls that came in to the Poison Control Center.
Human Exposures by Age Group Total exposures: 50,679 ≤ 5 Years: 25,037 20 to 59 Years: 12,261 60+ Years: 4,143 6 to 12 Years: 3,985 13 to 19 Years: 2,649 Unknown Age: 2,604
Top 5 Substances in Kids ≤ 5 years of Age Cleaning substances (household) 2,727 Analgesics 2,362 Foreign bodies/toys/miscellaneous 1,852 Topical preparations 1,252 Antihistamines 1,123 Top 5 Substances in Adults ≥ 20 years of Age Analgesics 2,475 Sedative/hypnotics/antipsychotics 2,175 Antidepressants 1,818 Cleaning substances (household) 1,623 Cardiovascular drugs 1,470
Poison Control Center Fatalities 2013-2017 The number of fatal cases reported to the Poison Control Center between 2013-2017. Fatalities
Causes of Poisoning Deaths: All Ages Substance No. of cases Benzodiazepines/Opioids 20 CNS/Psychiatric Medications (Excluding Opioids and Benzodiazepines) 18 Cardiovascular Medications 14 Other 11 Acetaminophen/Cough/Cold/ Allergy/OTC 9 Alcohol/Street Drugs 7 Uknown Drugs 7 Causes of Pediatric Deaths Toxicological Cause of Death No. of cases Smoke/Carbon Monoxide 2 Other/Unknown Narcostics/Street Drugs 2 Antiarrhythmics 1 Dextromethorphan Preparations 1 Diphenhydramine 1 Non-narcotic antitussives (Exclusing Diphenhydramine) 1 Miscellaneous Unknown Drugs 1