America's Poison Centers (National Poison Data System)

What it is

America's Poison Centers operates the National Poison Data System, the surveillance database aggregating calls to US poison control centers.

What it covers

Annual exposure counts by substance category, age group, and outcome, published as the NPDS Annual Report in Clinical Toxicology. This is the source for statements about which substance categories generate the most pediatric calls.

How to verify

The annual report and summary statistics are published on poison.org; the full report appears in the peer-reviewed literature.

How SafeMama uses it

Ranking claims on the garage chemical pages — antifreeze, pesticides, rodent bait. The editorial rule that matters most here is the definition: NPDS counts exposures, meaning calls, not confirmed poisonings. A page that turns "exposure calls" into "poisonings" overstates the data, so SafeMama keeps the original word.

Limitations / conflicts

Exposure data is call-based and voluntary, so it undercounts incidents never called in and overcounts precautionary calls with no harm. Category rankings shift year to year, which is why the year is required in every citation. No commercial conflicts identified.