PLANT EXPOSURES ... A NATIONAL PROFILE OF THE MOST COMMON-PLANT GENERA

Plant exposures are the 4th most common cause of poisoning and 85% of those exposures involve the pediatric population, The large number of plant-related exposures and the tack of knowledge about plant toxicity has led to plant paranoia and considerable educational efforts to red uce the number of exposures, These efforts are often dictated by misco nceptions and folklore. American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) data on all plant exposures for the years 1985-1994 were elec tronically analyzed by plant genus to establish a frequency distributi on of all plant exposures in the United States. A total of 912,534 pla nt exposure cases were analyzed to tabulate the tap 100 plant exposure s. Philodendron spp were the mast common exposures, followed by Dieffe nbachia spp, Euphorbia spp, Capsicum spp and Ilex spp. Plant exposures are very common and poison information centers devote significant cli nical service and educational effort to manage these exposures and enh ance the public's awareness. Awareness of specific plant species and e xposure frequency in a poison center region can serve as a basis for s taff education and as the cornerstone for the development of appropria te information in poison prevention and education brochures. This can direct better utilization of poison center financial resources.