MR. YUK TEACHES POISON PREVENTION

Mr. Yuk labels point out the poisonous nature of these household products.

Mr. Yuk has aged well.

Developed 25 years ago, the little green guy has been busy warning youngsters to stay away from toxic substances around the home.

While Mr. Yuk and other teaching tools have cut down on the number of accidental poisonings, parents still need to learn that if poisons are easily accessible at home, young children will find them.

"A lot of children have the misconception that poison always tastes bad or it is an ugly color or it smells bad," said Renee Bowerman, a member of the Poison Education Team at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

But many toxic substances actually have a sweet taste or a pretty color.

Bowerman and other team members teach children about the forms poisons come in -- solids, liquids, sprays and "invisibles," or gases -- and "tell them to remember that those things are harmful and they shouldn't taste them or smell them or touch them," she said.

But children aren't the only ones who need educating, Bowerman said. Parents also have to learn what the poisons lying around the house are, and they might be surprised to realize what everyday items fall into the "toxic" category.

"For the most part, it's the stuff under your sink," said Kathy Crist, service director of emergency services at St. Francis Medical Center.

Most of the accidental poisonings that emergency room nurses and doctors see are "ingestions of soap products, cleaning products. Occasionally, some gasoline products will come in," Crist said.

"You'd be surprised how many people still put gasoline or petroleum products in bottles and things," said Luann Pfau, an emergency room nurse at St. Francis. "Just recently we had somebody put gasoline in a Coke bottle and a kid drank it."

Putting toxic substances in soda bottles or medications in candy jars is dangerous, she said. Children will assume the substance is all right because they recognize the container.

"You just need to look around the house and the garage and put things in the proper containers," she said. "If you put it in a soda bottle or something like that, the kid will think it's OK to drink out of a soda bottle. You should never do anything like that."

Aspirin, Tylenol and other medications are also common agents in poisonings, Pfau said.

"A lot of times kids are given it by their parents, and they think it's OK for them to take it on their own," she said.

Some plants, seeds, bulbs, berries and other plant products can also be "a real problem," Pfau said.

Both Cape Girardeau hospitals are linked to the St. Louis Regional Poison Center Network at Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital for Children.

"If we can identify what the agent was, we get a complete report on it," Crist said. "They fax everything to us, everything from the clinical formulation to the treatment to delayed reaction to the discharge process."

Parents can reach the regional poison center by calling either hospital or directly by calling 1-800-392-9111.

Poisonous items commonly found in the home include alcoholic beverages, ammonia, antifreeze, insecticides, automotive products, petroleum products and gasoline, bleach, toilet bowl cleaners, cologne and perfume, copper, brass and silver polishes, corn and wart removers, detergents, disinfectants, drain cleaners, nail polish, glues, cements and epoxies, hair dyes, garden sprays, kerosene, nail polish and nail polish remover, pine oil, plants, prescription and over-the-counter medicines, shaving lotion, rubbing alcohol, iron medications, kerosene, lighter fluid, charcoal starter fluid, mushrooms, muriatic acid, paint, paint remover, paint thinner, rat and rodent poisons, snail bait, strychnine, sulfuric acid, turpentine and veterinary products.

Parents should keep in the house an ounce of syrup of ipecac -- available without prescription -- to induce vomiting. Ipecac should only be used on the advice of a physician or the professionals at the poison center. In some cases, milk or water should be given if a corrosive poison is ingested.