• Mr.Yuk means NO! DON'T TOUCH! He serves as an indication of a poisonous item.
• A Mr.Yuk sticker contains the number for your local poison center.
• A Mr.Yuk sticker should be placed on or near the telephone so the number is available in an emergency.
• Poisons come in fours: solid, liquid, spray, invisible.
• Poisons can smell good.
• Poisons can come in pretty containers.
• Pets can be poisoned.
• You can be poisoned by eating or drinking a poison, or by inhaling it.
• Cigarette smoke is poison.
• A six-year-old can help younger children stay away from poisons.
• Sprays can harm you if sprayed into the mouth or eyes.
• The water from rivers or streams can poison you.
• Some plants are poisonous.
• Pills and candy can look alike.
• Put poisons away after using them.
• In case of a suspected poisoning, tell an adult or call the Poison Center.
• Teaching children the four forms of poisons

What do kids know about poison? Most kids think of poison as something they can chew and swallow. They do not think of poison as a pretty liquid or a spray. They almost never know that poisons can be invisible.

Every single poison in the world is either a solid, a liquid,  a spray, or it’s invisible. It’s easier to teach children how to stay safe from poison when you know what form poisons take.

• Solid poisons are chunky and chewable — like air fresheners, pills, children’s vitamins, aspirins, lipsticks, powders, and many, many more.
• Liquid poisons come in all sorts of containers. Liquid poisons can be watery, creamy, blobby, and any color from pink to green. Strangely enough, most kids don’t think of poison as a liquid. Now remember that little kids can get hungry and thirsty more often than adults. Children don’t know poison can be a liquid. . . and they are thirsty. . . and you are busy in the kitchen. . . and you’ve got the makings of a tragic poison exposure. Use your common sense. Be aware of the dangers when you use and store liquid products like bleach and furniture polish and detergent.
• Spray poisons can be aerosol sprays or pump sprays. When you spray an aerosol in the eye, it’s like being hit with a thousand needles. Imagine a thousand needles full of corrosive oven cleaner. Imagine your child who wants to imitate you cleaning the oven.
• Invisible poisons such as carbon monoxide and other dangerous vapors can hurt you when you smell them. Let’s be honest about this. It’s not easy to teach kids to stay away from something they cannot see. But you can begin to teach them never to play near a car when its engine is running and never go near burning charcoal. And when you burn charcoal, never burn it in a closed space. Fresh air is carbon monoxide’s worst enemy.

The more you know about poison the easier it is for you to help prevent a poisoning. Central Pennsylvania Poison Center: 1-800-222-1222.