ISO 8317 : Child-resistant packaging
Young children are at risk of swallowing harmful products
used around the home. According to the Department of
Trade and Industry in the United Kingdom, poisoning
by solids and liquids accounted for 1 in 25 accidents
to children under the age of four and represented nearly
28 788 poisonings nationwide in 1999 alone.
ISO is helping to reduce the risk by means of a standard
that provides an internationally recognized test method
for assessing the child-resistant characteristics of
packages before they are put on the market for consumer
use. It allows manufacturers to develop child-resistant
packages that offer an adequate physical barrier between
a child under the age of five and a range of hazardous
products, including certain medicinal products, liquid
fuels and solvents, strongly acid or alkaline preparations,
and some garden products.
While child-resistant packages have proved effective
in preventing children from opening or gaining access
to hazardous contents, they have also raised concerns
over the difficulty of adults in opening the package,
particularly among the elderly and the physically disabled.
ISO 8317, Child-resistant packaging - Requirements
and testing procedures for reclosable packages, also
includes a test method for adults between the ages of
50 and 70 - thereby providing not only a measure of
the effectiveness of the package in restricting access
by children, but also in permitting access to its contents
by adults.
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