III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 144 

Recognizing the week of March 21 through March 27, 2021, as ‘‘National 

Poison Prevention Week’’ and encouraging communities across the 

United States to raise awareness of the dangers of poisoning and promote 

poison prevention. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2021 

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) submitted the 

following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the week of March 21 through March 27, 2021, 

as ‘‘National Poison Prevention Week’’ and encouraging 

communities across the United States to raise awareness 

of the dangers of poisoning and promote poison prevention. 

Whereas the designation of National Poison Prevention Week 

was first authorized by Congress and President Kennedy 

in 1961 in Public Law 87–319 (75 Stat. 681); 

Whereas National Poison Prevention Week occurs during the 

third full week of March each year; 

Whereas, as of February 10, 2021, poison centers have handled more than 838,000 cases related to the COVID–19 

pandemic alone and have seen dramatic increases in 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•SRES 144 ATS 

cases relating to hand sanitizer and household cleaning 

products; 

Whereas poison control centers responded to COVID–19 related surges by conducting poison safety and poisoning 

prevention outreach in a virtual format during the 

COVID–19 pandemic; 

Whereas the American Association of Poison Control Centers 

(referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘AAPCC’’) works 

with the 55 poison control centers in the United States 

to track— 

(1) more than 1,000 commonly used household and 

workplace products that can cause poisoning; and 

(2) poisonings and the sources of those poisonings; 

Whereas the National Poison Data System (NPDS) database 

contains over 447,000 products, ranging from viral and 

bacterial agents to commercial chemical and drug products; 

Whereas, in 2019, 2,148,141 people called the poison help 

line to reach a poison control center; 

Whereas, in 2019, as reported to the AAPCC, 92 percent of 

poison exposures reported to local poison control centers 

occurred in the home; 

Whereas local poison control centers save the people of the 

United States $1,800,000,000 in medical costs annually; 

Whereas the AAPCC and poison control centers partner with 

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food 

and Drug Administration, and State, local, Tribal, and 

territorial health departments to monitor occurrences of 

environmental, biological, and emerging threats in communities across the United States, including food poisoning, botulism, and vaping-associated lung injury; 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•SRES 144 ATS 

Whereas, in the United States, more than 300 children 19 

years of age and younger are treated in emergency departments for poisoning every day, and more than 130 

children 19 years of age and younger die as a result of 

being poisoned each year; 

Whereas, in 2019, children younger than 6 years of age constituted 43 percent of all poison exposures; 

Whereas, from 2000 to 2018, data from poison control centers revealed a significant increase of an average of 3.4 

percent per year in the number of intentional suicide patients who were adolescents 10 to 24 years of age, and 

that increase disproportionately occurred among females; 

Whereas, in 2021, poison control centers are seeing an increase in suspected suicides in individuals ranging from 

11 to 14 years of age; 

Whereas, in 2019, more than 114,000 children 19 years of 

age and younger were treated in an emergency room due 

to unintended pediatric poisoning, and more than 90 percent of those incidents occurred in the home, most often 

with blood pressure medications, acetaminophen, laundry 

packets, bleach, or sedatives or anti-anxiety medication; 

Whereas there was a 444 percent increase in pediatric magnet ingestion cases reported to United States poison control centers from 2018 to 2019 based on an analysis of 

the National Poison Data System (NPDS), demonstrating the significant risk of injury from high-powered magnet ingestions; 

Whereas 70,237 cases of death due to drug overdose were reported in the United States in 2017, and the majority of 

those cases, approximately 68 percent, involved an opioid; 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•SRES 144 ATS 

Whereas, in 2019, the most common medications that adults 

called the poison help line about were prescription and 

non-prescription pain relievers, household cleaning substances, cosmetics and personal care products, and 

antidepressants; 

Whereas pain medications lead the list of the most common 

substances implicated in adult poison exposures, and are 

the single most frequent cause of pediatric fatalities reported to the AAPCC; 

Whereas poison control centers issue guidance and provide 

support to individuals, including individuals who experience medication and dosing errors; 

Whereas more than 60 percent of calls to the poison help line 

are from individuals 20 years of age or older, with more 

than half of those calls involving patients older than 50 

years of age, and a common reason for those calls is 

therapeutic errors, including questions regarding drug 

interactions, incorrect dosing route, timing of doses, and 

double doses; 

Whereas normal, curious children younger than 6 years of 

age are in stages of growth and development in which 

they are constantly exploring and investigating the world 

around them, and are often unable to read or recognize 

warning labels; 

Whereas the AAPCC engages in community outreach by educating the public on poison safety and poisoning prevention, and provides educational resources, materials, and 

guidelines to educate the public on poisoning prevention; 

Whereas individuals can reach a poison control center from 

anywhere in the United States by calling the poison help 

line at 1-800-222-1222; 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•SRES 144 ATS 

Whereas, despite regulations of the Consumer Product Safety 

Commission requiring that a child-resistant package be 

designed or constructed to be significantly difficult for 

children under 5 years of age to open, or obtain a harmful amount of the contents, within a reasonable time, 

children can still open child-resistant packages; and 

Whereas, each year during National Poison Prevention Week, 

the Federal Government assesses the progress made by 

the Federal Government in saving lives and reaffirms the 

national commitment of the Federal Government to preventing injuries and deaths from poisoning: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the week of March 21 through 

3 March 27, 2021, as ‘‘National Poison Prevention 

4 Week’’; 

5 (2) expresses gratitude for the people who oper6 ate or support poison control centers in their local 

7 communities; 

8 (3) expresses gratitude for frontline workers 

9 supporting poison prevention during the COVID–19 

10 pandemic; 

11 (4) supports efforts and resources to provide 

12 poison prevention guidance or emergency assistance 

13 in response to poisonings; and 

14 (5) encourages— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•SRES 144 ATS 

1 (A) the people of the United States to edu2 cate their communities and families about poi3 son safety and poisoning prevention; and 

4 (B) health care providers to practice and 

5 promote poison safety and poisoning prevention. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS