Household cleaners in spray bottles dangerous for kids

The next time you clean your house, take a good look at your cleaning supplies.

Chances are you have at least one spray bottle and if you have a small child in the house, that could be dangerous.

A study showed between 1990 and 2006, children poisoned or injured by household cleaners dropped an impressive 46%, but there was one notable exception.

Dr. Lara McKenzie, with Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio says, "We did see a huge decrease over that time period, which is the good news, the bad news is that spray bottle injuries stayed high. They didn't decrease like the other ones did."

Spray bottles accounted for 40% of all injuries, sending thousands of kids each year to the emergency room.

That didn't sit well with some researchers at nationwide children's hospital so, they decided to do something about it.

They designed the first spray bottle top with a two-trigger system.

Adult hands are big enough to control both triggers, but during a focus group, young kids had a hard time understanding how the bottle works.

And in the home setting, that extra measure of protection could make a big difference.

Dr. McKenzie says, "Our technology has the potential to prevent more than 6,000 injuries each year which is 18 injuries a day, which is about the same size as a pre-school classroom full of kids."

Researchers say studying different products and pointing out their potential risk is just part of their job.

But it was a passion for protecting kids that led this group to come a safer product.

The researchers have applied for a patent and are now looking for partners to help them produce the child resistant spray bottles.

They hope to have them on store shelves in the next couple of years.