Last year, the Texas Poison Center Network recieved more than 700 calls on Halloween. Many of these calls were concerning exposures to glow stick products. Here's what you need to know about glow sticks:

Children of all ages can bite into these products or get the liquid into their eyes.

The substance inside these glowing items is dibutyl phthalate--a clear, oily, colorless liquid. It is low in toxicity but can irritate the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes.

For Ingestion:

Don't be alarmed if your child's lips and tongue glow for a few minutes.
Wipe the mouth with a clean wet washcloth; go over the tongue and around the gum line.
Give the child a glass of water.

For Eye Exposure:

Irrigate exposed eye(s) with a generous amount of room temperature water for at least 10 minutes

For Skin Exposure:
- Remove any clothing that is wet with the liquid.
- Wash the exposed skin areas thoroughly with soap and water.

Call and speak to the experts at 1-800-222-1222 for more treatment

recommendations 24 hours a day.

Beware look-a-likes during Halloween

Many medicines can look, smell or even taste like candy. Halloween is a time to pay particularly close attention to the location of medicines.

One highly dangerous example of this is the Fentanyl Lollipop. Fentanyl is one of the strongest opiate drugs on the market. It is not a long-lasting drug so it is often used for surgery recovery and for breakthrough pain - meaning that when a person is already taking an opiate but has temporary pain that breaks through the opiate barrier, they may be given fentanyl. Sometimes this drug can be given in the form of a lollipop.

Because children can easily mistake medicines such as this for candy, it's always best to keep medicinces up and away out of the reach of children and never call medicines candy. Call your local Poison Center for more information at 1-800-222-1222.

Halloween Facts

Did you know those who really fear Halloween have Samhainophobia (The Fear of Halloween.)

The world's largest chocolate bar weighs 9,702 pounds: much too heavy for your average child to tote home in a candy bag. (Thank goodness!)

Children are more than twice as likely to be killed in a pedestrian/car accident on Halloween than on any other night.

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Federal food safety workers who monitor dangerous bacteria have been recalled from furlough to track an outbreak of salmonella linked to Foster Farms chicken.

Nearly 300 people in 18 states, including Texas, have been sickened by an outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg traced to raw chicken. Among those, many infections appear to be resistant to the most common antibiotics used to treat them.

Safety officials have not yet identified specific products or a specific production period for the potentially tainted chicken, but said that affected meat bears one of three establishment numbers inside a USDA inspection mark or elsewhere on the package: P6137, P6137A and P7632.

Foster Farms officials said they've been working with CDC and FDA to investigate the source of salmonella at their sites. No recalls have been issued for any specific food products. Foster Farms officials said that the chicken is safe to eat when properly cooked and handled.

For questions, please don't hesitate to call the poison experts at 1-800-222-1222.

Clean out your medicine cabinet!

Protect our kids, families and the environment by properly disposing of your unwanted and expired medicines. Medicines in the home are a leading cause of accidental poisoning and flushed/trashed medicines can end up polluting our waters. Over half of teens abusing medicines get them from a family member or friend, including the home medicine cabinet, and often without their knowledge.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and participating local law enforcement are coordinating a nationwide drug "take-back" day on October 26th from 10 am to 2 pm. This one-day event will provide residents with no cost anonymous collection of unwanted and expired medicines.

Click here for a list of locations near you!