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The Commonsense Guide to Everyday Poisons: How to live with the products you love (and what to do when accidents happen)

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The Commonsense Guide to Everyday Poisons: How to live with the products you love (and what to do when accidents happen)

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Overview

An informative, fun and useful guide to more than 80 common household products

Written by a poison specialist, this indispensable volume gives you accurate, up-to-date and truly useful information about the household products you use the most, including detailed ingredients, safety information and advice on managing accidental exposures.

More than just a first aid how-to guide, The Commonsense Guide to Everyday Poisons describes typical ingredients found in household products and explains what they are, where they come from and what they do. Historical and off-beat information is often included, as well as suggestions for DIY projects.

Armed with this knowledge you can make informed decisions about the products you want in your home, and be prepared for the kind of accidental exposures that can happen at any time.

Products covered include:

Acne treatments
A&D ointment
Air fresheners
Ammonia
Ant & roach traps
Antibiotic ointment
Antifreeze
Automatic dishwasher detergent
Baby oil
Batteries
Bleach, chlorine
Bleach, oxygen
Borax
Bubble solutions
Calamine lotion
Carbon monoxide
Cat box litter
CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps)
Chalk
Citronella tiki torch fuel
DEET & other mosquito repellents
Degreasers
Deodorants & antiperspirants
Depilatories (hair removers)
Diaper cream (zinc oxide)
Diapers (disposable)
Drain openers
Dry ice
Epsom salt
Fabric softeners
Feces
Fels-Naptha
Fertilizers
Fire extinguishers (dry chemical)
Fireworks
Flea & tick treatments
Floor cleaners
Fluoride toothpaste
Freon & other refrigerants
Gasoline
Gentian violet
Glass cleaners
Glow products
Glues & pastes
Glycerin suppositories
Hair dyes
Hand sanitizers
Helium
Homeopathic products
Hydrocortisone cream
Hydrogen peroxide
Ice packs & heat packs
Jalapeno peppers & other capsicums
Lanolin
Laundry detergents
Lice treatments
Magnets
Modeling clays
Mold (food)
Mothballs
Mouthwash
Nail polish
Nail polish remover
Oven cleaners
Paint (interior & exterior)
Pepper spray & other defense sprays
Perfume, cologne & other fragrances
Petroleum jelly
Pool chemicals
Rubbing alcohol
Silica gel
Slug & snail killers
Soaps & washes
Sunscreens
Sunless tanners
Tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia)
Teething gel (benzocaine)
Thermometers (liquid in glass)
Toilet bowl cleaners
Urine
Washing soda (sodium carbonate)
Witch hazel

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780692196120
Publisher:	Teddy Vincent Angert
Publication date:	09/19/2018
Pages:	198
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.42(d)

About the Author

Teddy Vincent Angert is a Portland, Oregon author and mother of two who spent most of her nursing career at poison control, where she achieved national recognition as a Certified Specialist in Poison Information (CSPI). She believes facts are the antidote to fear.

Contents

What are Everyday Poisons? 5

Why a Commonsense Guide? 7

What about chemicals? 8

Stuff parents say . . . 9

Poisoning First Aid

Ingestions & Oral Exposures 14

Eye Exposures 16

Skin Exposures 18

Inhalation Exposures 19

Product Listings

Toxicity terms 21

Acne treatments 22

A&D ointment 24

Air fresheners 26

Ammonia 28

Ant & roach traps 30

Antibiotic ointment 32

Antifreeze 34

Automatic dishwasher detergent 36

Baby oil 38

Batteries 40

Bleach, chlorine 42

Bleach, oxygen 44

Borax 46

Bubble solutions 48

Calamine lotion 50

Carbon monoxide 52

Cat box litter 54

CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) 56

Chalk 58

Citronella tiki torch fuel 60

DEET & other mosquito repellents 62

Degreasers 64

Deodorants & antiperspirants 66

Depilatories (hair removers) 68

Diaper cream (zinc oxide) 70

Diapers (disposable) 72

Drain openers 74

Dry ice 76

Epsom salt 77

Fabric softeners 78

Feces 80

Fels-Naptha 82

Fertilizers 84

Fire extinguisher (dry chemical) 86

Fireworks 88

Flea & tick treatments 90

Floor cleaners 92

Fluoride toothpaste 94

Freon & other refrigerants 96

Gasoline 98

Gentian violet 100

Glass cleaners 102

Glow products 104

Glues & pastes 106

Glycerin suppositories 108

Hair dyes 110

Hand sanitizers 112

Helium 114

Homeopathic products 115

Hydrocortisone cream 116

Hydrogen peroxide 118

Ice packs & heat packs 120

Jalapeno peppers & other capsicums 122

Lanolin 124

Laundry detergents 126

Lice treatments 128

Magnets 130

Modeling clays 132

Mold (food) 134

Mothballs 136

Mouthwash 138

Nail polish 140

Nail polish remover 142

Oven cleaners 144

Paint (interior & exterior) 146

Pepper spray & other defense sprays 148

Perfume, cologne & other fragrances 150

Petroleum jelly 152

Pool chemicals 154

Rubbing alcohol 156

Silica gel 158

Slug & snail killers 160

Soaps & washes 162

Sunscreens 164

Sunless tanners 166

Tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) 168

Teething gel (benzocaine) 170

Thermometers (liquid in glass) 172

Toilet bowl cleaners 174

Urine 176

Washing soda (sodium carbonate) 178

Witch hazel 180

Index 182

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

What are parents to do if, say, their child takes a bite out of an air freshener? The answer, according to Angert, is to rinse out the kid’s mouth with water. The adults should also not panic too much, a major theme throughout the book, which is presented as a go-to resource when common products are used inappropriately. The author delivers advice on items ranging from acne treatments to witch hazel. Background information is provided on each substance as well as the potential for toxicity if brought into contact with skin (or inhaled, consumed, or simply placed in the mouth). There are also practical tips and remedies. For instance, if someone swallows gasoline and throat irritation results, drinking milk may alleviate the burning sensation, though vomiting should never be induced. Beyond such suggestions, the guide features intriguing tidbits as well as home recipes. For example, the entry on gasoline includes the meaning of octane and a brief history of ethanol fuel. There are sections on how to make fabric softener, clean up an antifreeze spill, and determine whether certain moldy foods can be eaten or should be thrown away. The text often has a folksy tone that wouldn’t be out of place in a Mother Jones article. Angert nimbly explains that the manufacturer of Bitrex (which is used as an additive to nail polish remover to make it unpalatable) offers taste-test kits so consumers can “discover just how awful it is.” The pointers here are immensely useful, though some of them can be oddly placed. Mosquito prevention recommendations follow a passage on the toxicity of Tiki torch fuel. The two topics are not entirely unrelated, though it seems that someone concerned about accidental citronella oil consumption may not be in the mood to discover new ways to keep mosquitoes out of the backyard. Nevertheless, the manual is illuminating and concise. Readers, whether they are distressed because their pets ate ant poison or they simply want to make their own deodorant, are likely to learn something valuable in these pages. A helpful, easy-to-read guide to poisons. — Kirkus Reviews
This is a great reference book: its calm, fact-based, approach will be very reassuring for nervous parents, and it will make an interesting "dip in and out" read for anyone curious about the substances in our homes. If you're looking after young children, or even if you're simply interested in cutting through the media hype surrounding chemicals, this book will be ideal. - Kat Day, the chronicle flask
This book is a gold mine of information about so many cool things. What struck me the most about the book is how extensive it is, there is information on a wide range of subjects that I never even thought of before, but I can definitely use the information not just as a parent, but as a homeowner. - Kate Wells

From the Publisher

2018-12-05
A debut manual examines poisonous household substances and less toxic alternatives.
What are parents to do if, say, their child takes a bite out of an air freshener? The answer, according to Angert, is to rinse out the kid's mouth with water. The adults should also not panic too much, a major theme throughout the book, which is presented as a go-to resource when common products are used inappropriately. The author delivers advice on items ranging from acne treatments to witch hazel. Background information is provided on each substance as well as the potential for toxicity if brought into contact with skin (or inhaled, consumed, or simply placed in the mouth). There are also practical tips and remedies. For instance, if someone swallows gasoline and throat irritation results, drinking milk may alleviate the burning sensation, though vomiting should never be induced. Beyond such suggestions, the guide features intriguing tidbits as well as home recipes. For example, the entry on gasoline includes the meaning of octane and a brief history of ethanol fuel. There are sections on how to make fabric softener, clean up an antifreeze spill, and determine whether certain moldy foods can be eaten or should be thrown away. The text often has a folksy tone that wouldn't be out of place in a Mother Jones article. Angert nimbly explains that the manufacturer of Bitrex (which is used as an additive to nail polish remover to make it unpalatable) offers taste-test kits so consumers can "discover just how awful it is." The pointers here are immensely useful, though some of them can be oddly placed. Mosquito prevention recommendations follow a passage on the toxicity of Tiki torch fuel. The two topics are not entirely unrelated, though it seems that someone concerned about accidental citronella oil consumption may not be in the mood to discover new ways to keep mosquitoes out of the backyard. Nevertheless, the manual is illuminating and concise. Readers, whether they are distressed because their pets ate ant poison or they simply want to make their own deodorant, are likely to learn something valuable in these pages.
A helpful, easy-to-read guide to poisons.

Kirkus Reviews

The Commonsense Guide to Everyday Poisons: How to live with the products you love (and what to do when accidents happen)

The Commonsense Guide to Everyday Poisons: How to live with the products you love (and what to do when accidents happen)

Paperback

Paperback

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews