New guidelines aim to make melatonin safer for kids
The voluntary industry guidelines come amid a dramatic rise in accidental pediatric ingestions of melatonin. At the same time, more and more kids are using melatonin on purpose as a sleep aid.
A leading trade group is asking companies that make melatonin to voluntarily adopt child-deterrent packaging and other improvements to how their products are packaged and labeled.
Melatonin is a hormone that is widely used as a sleep aid. In recent years, approximately 11,000 infants and young children have visited the emergency room after accidentally taking melatonin, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month.
This increase in accidental ingestions has coincided with increased sales of melatonin, president and CEO of the , the trade association which
