Between 2002 and 2016, nearly 65,000 children younger than five years were treated at U.S. EDs for injuries related to exposure to nail, hair, skin, and other cosmetic or personal care products. A study based on data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System found that most of the incidents were in children younger than two years, and the most common diagnosis was poisoning followed by chemical burns. In fact, cosmetics were the main source of child poisoning exposures reported in calls to poison centers.

The report notes that child-resistant packaging and warning labels about danger to children are not required for cosmetic products. Because young children are naturally curious and inclined to taste things, preventing cosmetic-related injuries entails common-sense precautions such as putting potentially harmful cosmetics out of reach or in locked enclosures, similar to the way medicines are treated. Health care providers are urged to include education for safe storage of cosmetics in well-child visits.-Frank Brodhead