• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Health / Medicine / Poison control center issues warning about Tiki torch fuel

Poison control center issues warning about Tiki torch fuel

July 15, 2008 By admin

Tiki torch fuel. At least five Iowans got sick in recent weeks after accidentally drinking fuel for those backyard bamboo tiki torches.

Another case this month in New Jersey killed an 84-year-old woman who drank the fuel, thinking it was juice.

Tammy Noble, a registered nurse and spokeswoman for the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center, says the amber-colored fluid smells like kerosene and usually comes in clear plastic bottles.

Noble says, “We’ve had exposures with children and the kids, obviously, cannot read the label so they think it looks like apple juice and they’ll take a sip of it, not even paying attention to the smell.” She says it may just take a taste of the fuel for it to slip into the lungs and cause choking, coughing, difficulty breathing and possibly pneumonia.

Noble says parents need to educate the entire family on the dangers of these “look-alikes” as preventing such accidental poisonings is vital. “Try to keep these in the original container. Don’t put it in a pop bottle and try to transfer it into the tiki torch that way because other people might come along and see it in the glass or the pop bottle and think it’s something other than the torch fuel,” Noble says.

The tiki torch fuel contains a hydrocarbon, which is similar to lamp oil and gasoline, which Noble says can be fatal. “Make sure these types of products are kept in a locked cabinet, not accessible to children, but also making sure we don’t keep these in the same areas we keep food products, so don’t have these sitting on the kitchen counter. That’s just waiting for a mistake to happen,” Noble says.

The Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center is based in Sioux City and is staffed round-the-clock at 800-222-1222. For non-emergencies, log on to the Poison Control Center’s website .

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Health / Medicine

Featured Stories

Summit has easements for 20% of carbon pipeline route through Iowa

Morel mushroom hunters on hold without warmer conditions

Trinity Health aquiring all MercyOne health properties

Field of Dreams site developer wants to bid on state baseball, softball tournaments

Governor gets bill targeting Iowa bars deemed ‘public safety nuisance’

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa assistant coach Kirk Speraw to retire

Northern Iowa prepares for Missouri Valley Conference softball tournament

T.J. Otzelberger announces staff changes at Iowa State

Iowa State adds transfer guard

Iowa State’s Tyrese Hunter enters transfer portal

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2022 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC