Chemicals
Chemical burns happen when the skin, eyes or airway come into contact with a strong acid or alkali. Exposure to toxic household products can cause rapid, life altering internal and external injuries to the skin, eyes and airway.
Children age 1-4 are the most vulnerable due to their curiosity and tendancy to explore cupboards and colourful containers including:
- Laundry products
- Household bleaches
- Toilet and drain cleaners
- Battery acid
Children admitted to a specialist burn service with a chemical burn injury to their skin often require a skin graft and will be left with life long scars as a result of this injury.
Hundreds of children are admitted to an NHS Burns Service every year due to injuries related to chemicals. This does not include the many more who are treated in A&E departments.
Data from the International Burn Injury Database (iBID)
Keep your children safe
- Store products out of reach and out of sight.
- Keep all potentially harmful chemical products locked away or on a high shelf, away from young children.
- Choose child-resistant packaging – when buying household products, look for child-resistant caps and containers.
- Never decant chemicals into food or drink containers
- Children can mistake unlabelled bottles for something safe to drink.
First aid
Where safe to do so, retain the container the chemical came from and take it with you to the hospital to show healthcare staff.
Full first aid guidance is also available on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/acid-and-chemical-burns/.
Impact
children a day are burned by hot drinks
children were burned or scalded in 2025
decline in fundraising income last year
Related content
Arthur’s Story…Burned by a Hot Drink
Charlie’s Story…burned by boiling water in the kitchen
