The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will soon enact new rules requiring manufacturers of certain household products to utilize child resistant caps in order to prevent inhalation and poisoning from hydrocarbons and other oily substances. The CPSC has considered requiring child proof caps for years, yet the agency has taken swift action after a 16 month old California boy recently died from pouring baby oil into his mouth.

The primary danger associated with hydrocarbons is the inadvertent inhalation of the substance into the lungs. There is no cure for hydrocarbon inhalation. According to the CPSC, at least five children have died, and 6,400 have been rushed to hospital emergency rooms, over the past several years due to inadvertent hydrocarbon inhalation. The new safety cap rule aims to reduce these statistics.

Products such as baby oils, suntan lotions, spot removers, household cleansers, and certain cosmetics will be subject to the new regulation.