What is a poison?
Any product or substance, including medications, can be harmful if it is used in the wrong way, by the wrong person, or in the wrong amount. A poisoning can occur from that substance by eating it, drinking it, breathing it, injecting it, getting it on the skin, or getting it in the eyes.
Not all exposures to poisons result in poisoning. Poisoning is when an exposure causes a negative health reaction, such as vomiting, diarrhea, and difficulty breathing.
A drug overdose is considered a poisoning. In this case, the drug is the product that is used in the wrong way, by the wrong person, or in the wrong amount. In Washington State over 90 percent of poisoning deaths are from a drug overdose.
Why is poison data important?
Poisons can be found in everyday items located in all areas of your home – kitchen, closets, bathrooms, attic, garage, dining room, laundry room, storage areas and basements.
Sources: WTN Poisoning Data, Washington Poison Center Top Ten Report
What's Here
WTN has data on both fatal and non-fatal poisonings. Both fatal and non-fatal poisoning data can be filtered by geography level, sex, and whether the poisoning was unintentional or self-inflicted.
View the Data
Learn More
To learn more about how to prevent poisonings, visit DOH's emergency preparedness accidental poisoning page.
Additional Resources
Safe Medication Return Program
Contact Us
For information or questions related to the Washington Tracking Network, email DOH.WTN@doh.wa.gov.
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We love hearing about how our data is being used to make an impact on the health of Washingtonians. It also helps us to know what is meeting our users' needs and how we can improve the information we provide. If you used our data, please tell us about it by sending an email to DOH.WTN@doh.wa.gov.
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