Have a question? Ask an IPL Librarian!

(Use our Contact Us form for questions/suggestions about our site.)

b) Iron supplements.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), 22 out of 98 poisoning deaths of children under six reported between 1990 and 1992 were due to iron poisoning. These were mainly ingestions of tablets intended to treat prenatal iron deficiency in adults. Children's multivitamin tablets, on the other hand, typically contain so little iron that even eating dozens would not be fatal. However, children should be taught that even candy-like children'svitamin supplements are medicine, and not candy.

By the way, medications are involved in the most accidental poisonings, followed by houshold cleaning products, personal care products (toothpase, cologne, etc.) and plants.

Source: Tenebein, M. & Rodgers, G.C. (1994) The four A's of decreasing the toll of childhood iron poisoning deaths. Archive of Family Medicine 3, 754-5

Return to quiz

Updated on 20 Apr 2005

What is the IPL?

The Internet Public Library is a public library for the world wide web.
Students from a consortium of colleges and universities with programs in information science develop and maintain the IPL!
Here are some of the partners in the IPL Consortium. A complete list is found on the IPL Consortium page.

The Internet Public Library is hosted by The iSchool at Drexel, College of Information Science and Technology,
with major support from the College of Information at Florida State University.