Consumer Reports no longer recommending liquid laundry pods

If you are a parent, you know that young children will put just about anything in their mouths.

And when it's a liquid laundry pod, it can cause serious injuries.

Now doctors and consumer experts are taking new safety measures to protect families.

While government pressure has spurred manufactures to make the pods safer, several companies have recently announced new designs and new voluntary safety standards are under discussion.

Consumer Reports says liquid pods pose such a risk that it has stopped recommending them.

Single-dose liquid laundry detergents are convenient, but they can also be poisonous.

19-month-old Wyatt Wilhite had to be intubated and air-lifted to a pediatric intensive care unit after biting into one.

And he's not alone. In the first six months of this year, poison-control centers received more than 6,000 reports of young children ingesting the pods or getting them in their eyes or on their skin.

"These highly concentrated pods are more harmful than regular liquid detergent. Consumer Reports has been warning about the dangers since the pods went mainstream back in 2012," said Dan DiClerico from Consumer Reports.

A study by Nationwide Children's Hospital shows kids are highly attracted to the pods because they look like candy. Even older kids can't tell the difference..

And incidents involving laundry pods happen at at a rate of one child every hour.

"These are closures that children can open very easily, very quickly. They're not child resistant," said Dr. Gary Smith from Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Over the years, manufacturers have tried to make the pods less accessible to young kids.

Recently, some even announced plans to coat their laundry pacs in a bitter-tasting substance.

Procter and Gamble says it will also increase the strength of the pods to make it harder for them to break open.

"We applaud these changes, but until we see a meaningful decrease in the number of injuries, we are not recommending liquid laundry pods. And we strongly urge households with children under six years old to avoid them," said DiClerico.

Consumer Reports says the danger is with liquid detergent pods, not pods filled with powder. But to be safe, always keep any detergent out of the reach of children.