Bleach, glue, fuel, arsenic and glass cleaner obviously are not food. But if you think a 30-year-old can always tell the difference better than a 2-year-old, think again.
A string of poisoning cases among adults have hit the news in recent years. Poison experts say many adult poisonings are the result of mixing up medicines or illiteracy.
But the most poignant and deadly examples of late have been the results of accidental mix-ups of products in the home.
Whether the cause is the overbearing stress of the times, the environmental-friendly habit of reusing containers, or trendy drinks that look like they could glow in the dark -- poison experts can only offer tips to avoid all-too-easy errors.
Below are some of the most recent examples of everyday accidents that have led to dangerous poisonings, along with expert advice on how to prevent them in your home.
The day after April Fools' Day this year, a 29-year-old woman in England woke up and stumbled into her bathroom looking for some eye drops.
She squirted liquid from a small dropper bottle into her eyes and immediately knew something was wrong, according to reporting by the Telegraph. Paula Griffin had grabbed highly toxic nail glue that binds to skin in seconds.
"I managed to stop it hitting the center of the eye, and doctors told me later that it saved me from permanent damage," Griffin told the Telegraph. "It was agonizing. It was burning so much it was my natural instinct to shut my eye."
Griffin sat through eight hours of having her eye glued shut before a medical team could separate her lids. So far, she has no permanent damage to her vision and a tale to tell.
Yet, poison experts said the scenario isn't so uncommon.
"They come in small containers with tiny eye droppers or spigots at the end that can look like the same kind of eye droppers that you find in the pharmacy," said Edward P. Krenzelok, a toxicologist and professor of pharmacy and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh. "That [nail glue] can bond your eyelids together."
Krenzelok's advice?
"Never, ever, ever try to separate those eyelids," he said.
Krenzelok recommended a doctor can separate the eyelids later and that a panicked attempt to separate them yourself can do a lot of damage.
Griffin's case might be the classic example for Krenzelok's first rule of thumb in poison prevention: Always read the label.
"Put your glasses on and read the labels," he said.
But in some situations, like outside in the dark, reading the labels can be very difficult.
Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
