I mean you shouldn't need scientists and articles to tell you this, but you really, REALLY, should not be doing the "
. For those of you who aren't too sure what I'm going on about, the Tide Pod Challenge is the latest craze to take the internet by storm and refers to people eating, and occasionally
, Tide Pods. Seriously, I am not joking.
Honestly, if you thought that 2017 was weird, 2018 has started in an even weirder fashion. We may only be only one month into the year, but already people are calling for it to be cancelled in light of the latest ridiculous trend which could have potentially disastrous consequences.
The American Association of Poison Control Centers says that there has been as many calls about 'intentional laundry packet exposure among 13-19 year-olds' in the first 15 days of 2018 than there was in the whole of 2016. According to the statistics from poison control centres across the country, there were 39 cases of exposure to laundry pods in 2016 and 53 in 2017. Off the back of the sheer amount of people adopting the challenge this year, I dread to think what the final figure will be for 2018.
I know that most of you reading this article won't be tempted to eat a Tide Pod - as you're not idiots - but if you are, this is what will happen.
Speaking to cincinatti.com, the Association of Poison Control Centers said:
"The resulting health implications from misuse can be serious. Known potential effects include seizures, pulmonary edema, respiratory arrest, coma, and even death."
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While it may seem completely ridiculous for people to eat a Tide Pod, it is something that is fairly
common in young children. Due to the worries of infants eating the tablets, the company that produces Tide decided to add a bitter flavour to the outer coating of the capsules back in 2015. While this tactic was used to deter kids from consuming the pods, the company didn't think that they would have to battle the will of adults as well.
The product was never intended to be eaten and they contain a horrific mix of chemicals that could leave you feeling very ill and could even end up killing you. Speaking about the worrying new trend, Jana L Anderson, a paediatric emergency doctor at the Mayo Clinic, explained the full run-down of what can happen to someone when they decide to chomp on a laundry capsule.
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Anderson says that as soon as someone begins to eat the capsule, they run the risk of irritating the membranes in their mouth, causing them to vomit. If swallowed, the detergent can then burn the oesophagus and stomach as well as causing "gastrointestinal
distress."
Even more worryingly, if the person inhales the detergent, it can lead to serious difficulties when trying to breathe to the point whereby a ventilator may be required. On top of that, if someone swallows enough detergent, or is a small child, then the consumption could be fatal.
To put this into simple terms: do not eat Tide Pods as you might die.
