What’s an Everyday Poison?
Everything in your home, car and office is a poison . . . and also not a poison. The more you know, the less fearful you’ll be.
Recent Posts
The Commonsense Guide to Everyday Poisons Is Here!
Parents and accident-prone adults now have an honest, easy-to-read source of information about the household products they use, misuse and worry about.
Bad Taste Doesn’t Stop Antifreeze Poisoning
Bitrex is supposed to prevent antifreeze poisoning, but it doesn’t seem to be working. People and pets are still drinking the same amounts of antifreeze.
Is Chocolate Poisonous for Dogs?
Chocolate has many health benefits for us, but you’ve probably heard dogs shouldn’t eat it. What makes chocolate poisonous for dogs?
Is Silica Gel Poisonous? It Says Do Not Eat!
Those little packets that come in shoe boxes are labeled “silica gel,” but they don’t feel like gel at all. What is this stuff, and is silica gel poisonous?
The winter solution: Sunless tanners
There’s one known carcinogen none of us can avoid: Solar radiation. Our sun isn’t a big ball of fire; it’s a huge nuclear fusion reactor. And so sunburn isn’t a thermal burn, like you get from standing too near fire. It’s a radiation burn, so it’s …
Are holly berries poisonous?
If you frequent trendy coffee houses you may be familiar with yerba mate. This popular caffeinated beverage is made from holly’s South American cousin Ilex paraguariensisa. As we all know, just because one member of a family is stimulating, that doesn’t mean another can’t be toxic. But are …
Are poinsettias poisonous?
No. They are not. I was as surprised as anyone to find the poinsettia’s reputation as a snatcher of young lives is undeserved. Why do we all believe it is so dangerous? Almost 100 years ago a child died in Hawaii, and someone said she was poisoned …
Is mistletoe poisonous? Romance and the “dung twig”
Ah, the winter holidays. Pretty trees and lights, eggnog and gifts, and kissing underneath a little sprig of leaves and berries. It’s ever so romantic, but is that mistletoe poisonous? Mistletoe literally means “dung twig,” owing to its usual means of seed dispersal. The mistletoe …
Carbon monoxide: The silent killer
If you have a fireplace, woodstove or even one appliance that runs on gas or oil, you need to know about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Are those leftovers safe to eat?
Someday you’ll pull something from the fridge and wonder, is this okay to eat? Sometimes the answer is obvious . . . but sometimes it’s not, and that’s because the organisms that cause food to rot and decay are different from the ones that cause illness. In …