Families are being warned about the potential toxicity of homemade potions – such as those immortalised in Roald Dahl’s book George’s Marvellous Medicine.
The warning comes in the traditionally quirky Christmas edition of The BMJ.
Doctors expressed concern that children might try to imitate the potions in books. Mr Dahl used common ingredients such as toothpaste.
Graham Johnson, from University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, and Patrick Davies, from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said most unintentional poisonings occur at home, and are a leading cause of accidental child death. Coupled with lockdowns and increased stays at home, they were concerned that the risk of attempted reproduction of George’s marvellous medicine had increased.
They investigated the toxic and therapeutic potential of the medicine that was created by the character and given to his grandmother, examining all 34 ingredients in the concoction, which include washing powder, “extra hot” chilli sauce, engine oil and antifreeze, against the National Poisons Information Service (ToxBase) poisons database.
The most common toxic effect was nausea and vomiting, which would occur if ingesting 16 (47%) ingredients, while 11 (32%) ingredients were linked to diarrhoea and six (18%) to heart rhythm problems.
Thirteen (38%) of the ingredients were linked to potentially life-threatening effects, including kidney injury, convulsions, and damage to the stomach lining, for which treatments are complex and would need immediate high-level care.
The authors say there are limitations with their study, such as not combining the medicine as described and not knowing the precise dose of the medicine taken by Grandma, but they add that the extra time being spent at home by children, and their natural desire to experiment and explore, means parents must understand how to keep their children safe.
“It is unlikely that children will recreate each step in the making of a marvellous-type medicine, but it is worth being cautious as some of the household ingredients used by George are considerably dangerous and commonly cause severe morbidity in children,” they write.
“Although parents might encourage scientific exploration and experimentation in their children, it would be wise to check any medicinal ingredients for potential toxicity before use,” they conclude.
Johnson G, Davies P. Toxicological analysis of George’s marvellous medicine: literature review. BMJ 11 December 2020
Leave a Reply