Storage of poisons in the homes of families with small children.

Great attention has been paid all over the world during recent years to the subject of poisoning in children, and several workers have shown that in Sweden also the problem is important. Berfenstam (1954, 1958), for example, estimated the number of cases of poisoning treated in the Pediatric and Ear, Nose and Throat departments in Sweden as 2,000 to 3,000 annually. It is usually small children who are the victims of accidental poisoning. Karlsson (1955), in a study of about 3,000 cases ofpoisoned children in Stockholm, found a rapidly increasing frequency from the age of 9 months, reaching a maximum at 11 to 15 months, followed by a slow decline. 81 per cent. of the poisonings occurred in children less than 3 years old. Both Lindquist (1954), in data from Lund, and Berfenstam, Ehrenpreis, Ekstr6m, Garsten, and Myrin (1950) showed similar age distributions. Practical measures of different kinds have been taken in Sweden for the prevention of accidental poisoning in children. A joint committee to campaign against accidents to children has repeatedly pointed out the importance of such measures. It may be mentioned, in particular, that in Sweden different types of safety locks and stoppers have been devised (Christiansson, 1954; Christiansson and Berfenstam, 1958; Myrin, Berfenstam, and Karlsson, 1960); much propaganda has been issued concerning them, and the use of secure medicine cupboards has also been recommended. The large number of poisoning cases and the increasing quantities of poisonous medicines and chemical preparations in domestic use (pest and 123 vermin destroyers, cleaning powders and fluids, polishes, disinfectants, etc.) justifies more detailed studies of the problem (Barr, 1958). It is well known that behind every accident there is a complex mechanism (Jacobziner, 1957; Koumans, 1960). One method of studying the problem which may be of great value is to obtain detailed information through home visits after cases of accidental poisoning (McIntire and Simmons, 1960). In this paper a study is presented of one predisposing factor: the too easy access to poisonous preparations. In this type of study objectivity and replicability is of primary importance from the point of view of method, and one of the aims of the present survey is to establish an acceptable method of investigation with especial regard to these qualities.