New push for safer laundry detergent pods

There's a new push for tighter safety standards on an item in millions of homes - laundry detergent pods.

One of the problems with these detergent packets is that they look like candy, and parents may remember to put other cleaning products like bleach out of the reach of kids, but may not think about laundry detergent.

The packets were introduced in 2012. They became very popular, but also controversial.

A new study released Monday says that during a two-year period, 17,000 kids were exposed to the detergent in packets, which equates to about one child every hour.

Nearly 800 have been hospitalized, and a 7-month-old in Florida died after eating one.

Three quarters of the kids who got sick are under the age of three.

Dr. Gary Smith from Nationwide Children's Hospital explains, "This is an age group that has good mobility. They're very quick, they're curious, they don't recognize danger, and just in a blink of an eye, they can put one of these detergent pods in their mouth."

In many accidents kids got the detergent packets because they weren't kept up, out of sight or locked away.

Doctors also say the packets look too much like candy to kids. In fact, in an experiment children reached for simulated laundry pods as quickly as they did candy.

Joy Lincoln is a mother, and she tells us, "I thought the older kids maybe would've been able to distinguish a difference, and surprisingly, they weren't able to do that."

Some detergent makers now use opaque containers, or have additional locks on the lids.

But safety experts say that's not enough.

Smith says, "These are closures that children can open very easily, very quickly. They're not child-resistant and that's why we need a voluntary safety standard in this country."

The detergent industry says companies are committed to reducing these accidents, and it says there have been major changes to packaging and labeling, with more changes on the way.

The group also says companies are involved in a major education program to make sure these products are handled and stored safely in the home.