‘Camphor Blocks / Oil can be fatal to children’.
Chest Rubs and Vapouriser Fluids
The Poisons Information Centre DOES NOT recommend the use of chest rubs, vapouriser or inhalant fluids, to treat coughs, colds, or for any other purpose.
Current recommendations suggest that chest rubs and vapouriser fluids do not have any proven benefit. Although they can make you feel as though your airways are clearing, this is due to the camphor, menthol and eucalyptus oil. These ingredients can often make nasal passages more sensitive to cool air.
According to the Poisons Information Centre, chest rubs and vapouriser fluids DO NOT have a decongestant effect and they do not make it easier to breathe.
The camphor and eucalyptus oil in chest rubs and vapouriser fluids are poisonous and can make children very sick if they swallow them. Each year the Poisons Information Centre send a number of children to hospital, after they have swallowed chest rub or vapouriser fluid.
If you think your child has swallowed a chest rub or vapouriser fluid contact the Poisons Information Centre immediately. Be safe and do not have chest rubs or vapouriser fluid in the house. For further information about chest rubs and vapouriser fluids, or other poisons, ring the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Did you know?
- Current recommendations suggest ‘steam’ therapy, including vapourisers to be of NO benefit.
- Steam vapourisers are regarded as dangerous because of accidental burns, so are NOT advised.
- 50% of burns seen in children are from scalds.
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