There has been a 40-fold increase in the number of young children suffering burns to their eyes because of laundry detergent pods, according to a new study in the US.
Researchers found that there were just 12 cases of three and four-year-old children suffering such burns in 2012.
But this soared to 480 in 2015, making up 26 per cent of all chemical eye burns.
The pod system was designed for ease of use with a dissolvable plastic bag containing the right amount of detergent for a single wash.
The researchers, of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, said the number of injuries had risen as the pods became more popular.
Dr Richard Sterling Haring, who worked on the study, said: “These data suggest that the role of laundry detergent pods in eye injuries among pre-school-aged children is growing.
“As with most injuries in this age group, these burns occurred almost exclusively in the home.
“In addition to proper storage and use of these devices, prevention strategies might include redesigning packaging to reduce the attractiveness of these products to young children and improving their strength and durability.”
The figures were compiled from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System run by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Between 2012 and 2015, there were a total of 1,201 eye burns affecting children aged three and four that were caused by or related to laundry pods, according to a paper about the study in the JAMA Ophthalmology journal.
The burns tended to happen when children were handling the pods and some of the contents squirted into their eye or if the pod leaked and they subsequently touched their eyes.
