--- title: Laundry Pods Are Dangerous, Consumer Reports Says description: Consumer Reports has removed laundry pods from its list of recommended detergents because of concerns over the pods' danger to children. canonical: https://time.com/3960756/laundry-pods-dangerous/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-16T14:33:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:32.445Z article:section: Health og:title: Laundry Pods Are Dangerous, 'Consumer Reports' Says og:description: The pods were removed from the list of recommended laundry detergents og:url: https://time.com/3960756/laundry-pods-dangerous/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dceed2562cfbf6c/69885b260a4a223f529c52c0/laundry-detergent-pods.jpg?branch=production&width=276&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 276 og:image:height: 155 og:image:alt: laundry detergent pods og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Laundry Pods Are Dangerous, 'Consumer Reports' Says twitter:description: The pods were removed from the list of recommended laundry detergents twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dceed2562cfbf6c/69885b260a4a223f529c52c0/laundry-detergent-pods.jpg?branch=production&width=276&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Laundry Pods Are Dangerous, _Consumer Reports_ Says > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Don't lose money in the laundry [Watch (HLS stream): Don't lose money in the laundry](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZuPuZyJF.m3u8) (2:18)  _Published 2014-06-01. Older appliances are very inefficient; newer models save both water and energy._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jul 16, 2015 2:33 PM UTC  Consumer Product Safety Commission  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jul 16, 2015 2:33 PM UTC _Consumer Reports_ has removed laundry pods from its list of recommended detergents because of growing concerns over the pods’ danger to children. More than 6,000 families with children ages five and younger have already had to contact poison-control centers this year after their kids ingested the pods or got the detergent on their skin, [according to _Consumer Reports_](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/07/the-problem-with-laundry-detergent-pods/index.htm). The total number of incidents for 2014 was 11,714. The single-load laundry detergent pods have become popular for their convenience since they hit the market in 2012\. _Consumer Reports_‘ warning only applies to the pods containing liquid; the pods with powder inside cause fewer incidents. “We recognize the role parents and caregivers play in keeping children safe, but we believe the unique risks posed by liquid laundry pods warrant this action,” _Consumer Reports_ wrote of its decision to remove the pods, “at least until the adoption of tougher safety measures leads to a meaningful drop in injuries.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3960756/laundry-pods-dangerous/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3960756/laundry-pods-dangerous/"},"headline":"Laundry Pods Are Dangerous, Consumer Reports Says","datePublished":"2015-07-16T14:33:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:32.445Z","description":"The pods were removed from the list of recommended laundry detergents","url":"https://time.com/3960756/laundry-pods-dangerous/","keywords":["safety"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dceed2562cfbf6c/69885b260a4a223f529c52c0/laundry-detergent-pods.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dceed2562cfbf6c/69885b260a4a223f529c52c0/laundry-detergent-pods.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"laundry detergent pods","caption":"laundry detergent pods","creditText":"Consumer Product Safety Commission","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/safety/","name":"safety"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3960756/laundry-pods-dangerous/","name":"Laundry Pods Are Dangerous, Consumer Reports Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Don't lose money in the laundry","description":"Older appliances are very inefficient; newer models save both water and energy.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZuPuZyJF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-01T04:27:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZuPuZyJF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3960756/laundry-pods-dangerous/","duration":"PT2M18S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3960756/laundry-pods-dangerous/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```