Poisoning Statistics, 2023 National Data

How many people call Poison Control each year?

In 2023, the 55 US poison control centers (Poison Control) provided telephone guidance for nearly 2.1 million human poison exposures. That's about:

6.2 poison exposures/1,000 population.
32.1 poison exposures in children younger than 6 years/1,000 children.
1 poison exposure reported to US poison control centers every 15 seconds.

Table 1. 2023 Poison Control Telephone Call Case Types

Year: 2023	Calls
Human Exposures	2,080,659
Animal Exposures	41,857
Confirmed Nonexposures	5,071
Info Calls	293,663
TOTAL CASES	2,127,587

How old are the people who Poison Control helps?

While children younger than 6 years comprise a disproportionate percentage of the cases, poisoning affects ALL age groups, from infants to seniors. Peak poisoning frequency occurs in one- and two-year-olds, but poisonings in teens and adults are more serious. Notice that the greater proportion of males in poison exposures occurring in children younger than 13 years switches to a female predominance in teens and adults.

fig 1
In 2023, across all ages, there were 623 poison exposures reported per 100,000 population. The highest incidence occurred in children 2 years and younger (5,330 exposures per 100,000 population). For teens, 585 exposures per 100,000 population were reported.

Table 2. Comparison of age groups as percent of human exposures reported to poison control vs. percent of the US population.

Age Group	% Managed by Poison Control	% of US Population
Infants & Toddlers (0-2y)	28%	3%
Young Children (3-5y)	12%	3%
Children & Tweens (6-12y)	7%	9%
Teens (13-19y)	9%	9%
Adult 20s	9%	13%
Adult 30s	8%	14%
Adult 40s	6%	12%
Adult 50s	5%	12%
Adult 60s	5%	12%
Adult 70y+	5%	12%

fig 2

In 2023, children and teens comprised 56% of all human exposures, followed by adults ages 20-69 years (33%). Older adults (70 years and older) comprised 5% of all human exposures reported to poison control.
fig 3

Are most poisonings intentional?

Across all ages, 77.2% of poison exposures reported to US poison centers in 2023 were unintentional, 18.4% were intentional, and 2.5% were adverse reactions. In children younger than 6 years, 99% of exposures were unintentional, compared to only 33% of teen exposures and 62% of adult exposures.

Table 3. Reason for Human Exposure Cases as Percent of All Cases by Age Group, 2023

		Child <13	Teen 13-19y	Adult >20y	All Ages
Adverse Reaction	Adverse reaction - Drug	0%	1%	3%	2%
	Adverse reaction - Food	0%	0%	0%	0%
	Adverse reaction - Other	0%	0%	1%	0%
	Subtotal, Adverse Reaction	1%	2%	5%	3%
Intentional	Intentional - Abuse	0%	6%	4%	2%
	Intentional - Misuse	1%	5%	4%	3%
	Intentional - Suspected suicide	1%	49%	19%	13%
	Intentional - Unknown	0%	2%	1%	1%
	Subtotal, Intentional	2%	62%	27%	18%
Other	Other - Contamination / tampering	0%	0%	1%	0%
	Other - Malicious	0%	0%	1%	0%
	Other - Withdrawal	0%	0%	0%	0%
	Subtotal, Other	0%	1%	2%	1%
Unintentional	Unintentional - Bite / sting	1%	1%	2%	2%
	Unintentional - Environmental	1%	2%	4%	3%
	Unintentional - Food poisoning	0%	1%	1%	1%
	Unintentional - General	82%	9%	13%	45%
	Unintentional - Misuse	2%	8%	15%	9%
	Unintentional - Occupational	0%	1%	3%	2%
	Unintentional - Therapeutic error	10%	12%	25%	17%
	Unintentional - Unknown	0%	0%	0%	0%
	Subtotal, Unintentional	97%	33%	65%	77%
Unknown Reason	Unknown Reason	0%	1%	2%	1%
Unknown Reason	Subtotal, Unknown Reason	0%	1%	2%	1%

What are the most common substances implicated in poison exposures?

Pediatric

Cleaning substances and pain medications lead the list of the most common substances implicated in pediatric exposures in 2023. Cosmetics and personal care products followed. These exposures are nearly always unintentional.

Table 4.

Substance Category	No. Cases	%
Cleaning Substances (Household)	87,031	10.1
Analgesics	78,993	9.1
Cosmetics/Personal Care Products	78,721	9.1
Foreign Bodies/Toys/Miscellaneous	69,513	8.0
Dietary Supplements/Herbals/Homeopathic	59,575	6.9
Antihistamines	40,924	4.7
Vitamins	40,343	4.7
Topical Preparations	33,739	3.9
Pesticides	29,541	3.4
Plants	28,770	3.3

Adult

In 2023, pain medications (analgesics) continued to lead the list of the most common substances implicated in adult poison exposures. Cardiovascular drugs, antidepressants, and sedatives/sleeping medications followed.

Table 5.

Substance Category	No. Cases	%
Analgesics	134,924	10.9
Cardiovascular Drugs	92,078	7.4
Antidepressants	91,679	7.4
Sedative/Hypnotics/Antipsychotics	88,503	7.1
Cleaning Substances (Household)	76,069	6.1
Alcohols	54,062	4.4
Anticonvulsants	47,744	3.8
Antihistamines	45,426	3.7
Hormones and Hormone Antagonists	42,408	3.4
Stimulants and Street Drugs	38,536	3.1

What substances cause the most serious poisonings?

Between 2019 and 2024, pain medications were the most frequent causes of pediatric fatalities reported to Poison Control, followed by fumes, gases, and vapors such as carbon monoxide.

Table 6.

Substance category	No. of Fatal Cases	% of Fatal Cases
Analgesics	81	23.9
Fumes/Gases/Vapors	47	13.4
Stimulants and Street Drugs	24	7.1
Batteries	22	6.5
Unknown Drug	19	5.6
Cardiovascular Drugs	14	4.1
Cold and Cough Preparations	14	4.1
Alcohols	13	3.8
Chemicals	9	2.7
Antihistamines	8	2.4
Other/Unknown Nondrug Substances	8	2.4

In 2023, the substance categories with the largest number of deaths across all ages (and including intentional exposures) include Acetaminophen, Sedative/Hypnotics/Antipsychotics, Miscellaneous Alcohols, Pharmaceutical and Illegal Opioid Preparations, and Miscellaneous Stimulants and Street Drugs.

Table 7.

Substance category	No. of Fatal Cases	% of Fatal Cases
Acetaminophen Alone	360	8.8
Miscellaneous Sedative/Hypnotics/Antipsychotics	308	7.5
Miscellaneous Alcohols	306	7.5
Pharmaceutical and Illegal Opioid Preparations	260	6.4
Miscellaneous Stimulants and Street Drugs	240	5.9
Miscellaneous Unknown Drug	226	5.5
Calcium Antagonist	205	5.0
Beta Blockers	152	3.7
Miscellaneous Antidepressants	131	3.2
Hypoglycemic, Single Agent	118	2.9

How serious are poison exposures?

In 2023, 83% of poison exposures reported to US poison centers were nontoxic, minimally toxic, or had at most a minor effect. (Includes the National Poison Data System codes: no effect; minor effect; not followed, nontoxic; and not followed, minimally toxic.)

Figure 4. Outcomes of US Human Poison Exposure Cases, 2023

Intentional exposures were significantly more serious, with nearly seven times as many serious outcomes (major or fatal effects) compared to unintentional exposures. Of the intentional exposures, 8.5% were major effects or deaths compared to just 0.3% of unintentional exposures and 2% of all exposures.

fig 5

Exposures in teens and adults were also considerably more serious, with 21% of teens and 17% of adults having a moderate, major or fatal effect compared to 1.5% of children younger than 6 years. Most exposures in children younger than 6 years (95%) were nontoxic, minimally toxic, or had at most a minor effect.

fig 6

Many poison exposures can be safely observed at home without an ER visit. Overall, 66.5% of poison exposures were observed without medical intervention in 2023. For poison exposures occurring in children younger than 6 years, 85.2% were only observed at home (without going to an ER or seeing a physician). In contrast, only 55.3% of adult cases were managed at the exposure site without medical intervention.
fig 7

These nontoxic or minimally toxic poison exposures that can be safely observed at home are the cases that will most likely be amenable to triage by webPOISONCONTROL.

Real-Time Poison Exposure Data Enables Surveillance

US poison centers collect data in real time and upload those data approximately every 5 minutes (median time to upload). Real-time data are used to find hazardous products quickly, follow substance abuse trends, and detect chem/bioterrorism incidents. Under a grant from the CDC, America’s Poison Centers and its member poison centers conduct automated, continuous surveillance of poison exposure cases. Alerts are sent when there are an unexpectedly large number of cases in an hour, when there’s an unexpectedly high frequency of a specific symptom, or when there are cases with combinations of clinical effects suggestive of specific poisonings that might require a rapid public health response. Toxicologists promptly investigate these alerts and inform public health officials if outliers are suspicious for events or products of concern.

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