Paracetamol and ibuprofen most common substances linked to poisonings 

Last year 6,490 enquiries involved children aged 14 years or under with most of these (5,301) being concerns for children aged under four.

Paracetamol, ibuprofen, and ethanol were the most common substances linked to poisoning incidents in Ireland last year, the National Poison Information Centre (NPIC) report shows.

Concerns about potential poisoning of children made up more than half (58%) of calls to the NPIC helpline.

The vast majority of poisonings happened in the home at 92%, with far smaller numbers in schools, workplaces, or public places.

Among other common items which led to poisoning incidents were sachets of fabric cleaner, hand cleanser, multivitamins, detergent, sodium Hypochlorite, sertraline, and antiseptic.

Codeine and caffeine also appear in the list, but the report states “they are present as ingredients in a number of analgesic products and the doses involved are usually small". 

Severe symptoms

Overall the NPIC recorded that at the time of the call some 127 (1.2%) of patients had “severe signs and symptoms including coma, liver function abnormalities, severe hypotension, and metabolic changes”.

Last year 6,490 enquiries involved children aged 14 years or under with most of these (5,301 or 81.7%) being concerns for children aged under four.

Almost 80% were asymptomatic but there were nine cases of severe poisoning among children.

"Medications were the most common type of agent involved in paediatric cases," the NPIC said.

Agricultural agents accounted for 218 (2%) of all poisoning enquiries, with some 17% of these agricultural queries related to exposure to glyphosate-containing weed killers.

Rodenticide accounted for 21% of agricultural queries, and insecticide for 29%.

Illegal drugs

Last year 203 calls related to illegal drugs including cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and amphetamines.

The NPIC also received 1,414 enquiries relating to intentional overdoses of various substances.

On average they received 929 queries a month, coming to 11,145 during the year. This was “ a small decrease” on the year before.

Most calls, 5,696 or 51.1%, were from the public but the service also gets calls from medical staff, schools and other sites.

NPIC clinical director Dr Edel Duggan said it provides a 24-hour service for health professionals by working with the UK National Poisons Information Service.

“The NPIC also operates a Public Poisons Line and provides poison information to members of the public from 8am to 10pm seven days per week,” she said.

The Public Poisons Information Line number is: 01 809 2166.