Last week, it was potassium dichromate, and yesterday, it was bleach.

Two toddlers in the past two weeks in Costa Rica nearly lost their lives due to mishandling of toxic chemicals in the home.

Potassium dichromate is bright orange and it main victims of poisoning are young children who confuse it with soda pop or juice due to its bright orange color when diluted in water. It doesn’t help that Costa Ricans often reuse plastic soda or juice bottles to dilute and store cleaning fluids that are then kept on open shelves or in readily accessible, unlocked cabinets

Last week the Costa Rican National Children’s Hospital issued a statement of concern over the increase in poisonings in children they have seen this year, said Olga Arguedas, hospital director.

Two weeks ago, a three-year-old drank some attractive bright orange potassium dichromate, a substance that is prohibited in the country, and which can cause death if ingested. When it was widely available, it was prized for its ability to leave a beautiful shine on wood floors, something that is prized in Costa Rica.

“This is a case that fortunately did not cause death, but it did require hospitalization, and the problem is that potassium bichromate was banned in Costa Rica in the 1990s, and now it has reappeared on the stage,” added Arguedas.
The director of the medical center urged consumers to not purchase the substance; the family in this case had purchased it in a hardware store.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, ingestion of potassium dichromate can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, burning sensation, diarrhoea, and/or shock or collapse.

Then, yesterday morning, Sunday, November 12, at around 10, a two-year-old in Desamparados, in southern San Jose, was rushed to the Children’s Hospital after he appears to have guzzled at least a liter of bleach, according to media reports.

The boy entered the hospital in delicate condition. Bleach ingestion can be fatal.

Now might be a good time to doubt check you have all your cleaning and other chemicals properly sealed and stored, especially if you have small children in your house.