Poison Control Centers Receiving Numerous Calls About Dietary Supplements

The number of calls to poison control centers about dietary supplements has risen dramatically in the United States.

Calls related to dietary supplements rose more than 40 percent between 2000 and 2002....dropped slightly between 2002 and 2005..then skyrocketed by nearly 50 percent between 2005 and 2012.

According to WILX-TV 10, investigators say on average dietary supplements are the reason for poison control centers calls about every 24 minutes.

Seventy percent of the calls involved children younger than six years old.  The majority of exposures were unintentional occurring when children swallowed supplements they found at home.