At least once a year, we run into a story like this - somewhere kids are sickened (or worse, die) when they drink a glass of windshield wiper fluid that someone thought was a cup of nice blue Kool-Aid.
No surprise then, that it's happened again - this time daycare workers in Arkansas gave ten kids glasses of windshield wiper fluid accidentally, sending all ten kids to the hospital. The kids, ages two to six, drank about an ounce each and are doing OK (as little as two tablespoons can kill a kid) - although doctors say they want the kids to be closely monitored.
The problem here (besides the fact that they were trying to give the kids Kool-Aid, yuck) is windshield wiper fluid is brightly colored - a lot like kids' favorite fruit drinks. Open up a bottle, and it smells sweet, making the liquid all the more tempting for kids. Obviously - with this case and dozens of others - those factors play as much of a role in adult mistakes too. Apparently, in Arkansas, a daycare worker had recently been shopping, coming back with a variety of products - one of which was grabbed and put in the refrigerator. Stupid mistake, but not beyond the realm of comprehension.
Considering all the health risks - blindness, seizures, DEATH - from drinking windshield wiper fluid, when are these companies going to step up to the plate and start making a product that scares kids off? Do they really think adults are going to stop needing clean car windows all of a sudden if they make their fluid stink? Do they really need to make a TOXIC product taste good?
Or does this all come down to the money?
Image: CDX
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