Dishwasher formula change to protect children

Some dishwasher detergents are to be banned in a move to prevent injuries to children who accidentally swallow them.

The Environmental Risk Management Authority plans to allow only dishwasher detergents and tablets with a pH of less than 12.5 to be sold from July 1, 2007.

But child safety advocates who campaigned for a ban following a number of serious injuries say it will not happen soon enough.

Ann Weaver, director of Safekids, the injury prevention service of Starship Children's Health, was pleased with the move, but was hoping it would coincide with a similar ban in Australia, which takes effect in September.

The longer the products were available, the longer children faced potential harm, she said.

"It can be very bad for children. The most serious cases certainly have lifelong implications. One child has gone through around 26 operations. He can't swallow, and he has to breathe through a tube."

Ms Weaver said although child-proof containers could help, people still needed to store detergents safely.

A study by Starship clinicians published this year in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health found many children being admitted after swallowing detergent - either from the packet or from the detergent dispenser on the dishwasher door.

During 2003 and 2004, the National Poisons Centre recorded 610 dishwashing powder ingestions, 88 per cent of which involved children less than two years old.

Last year, the tally was 178 - 30 of them from tablets.

The ban on highly alkaline cleaners is likely to see about 40 per cent of existing brands taken off shelves or reformulated.

"Alternatives are available on the marketplace, so the consumer should not be unduly affected by this change," the authority says.

Leading detergent manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser welcomed the ban.

General manager Steve Forde said the ban would not affect its product Finish, which accounts for about 65 per cent of the market.

Finish had been a safer, low pH detergent since 1998 when its formula was changed to non-corrosive enzymes and oxygen bleach, he said.

A SAFER CLEAN

Dishwasher detergents with a pH lower than 11.0:

* Finish 3-in-1 tablets.

* Finish Power powder.

* Morning Fresh Ultra Shine tablets.

Source: Consumer magazine, March 2005.