A four-year-old toddler was blinded in one eye after biting a common household item—a concentrated detergent pod—that her mom gave her to hold. The incident has raised serious concerns about child product safety, toxic chemical exposure, and household injury liability.
Luca de Groot was helping her mom, Jodi Lowe, with household chores when the ‘traumatic’ incident happened.
The little girl immediately began screaming and inadvertently rubbed the product across her eyes before Lowe could intervene.
The toddler’s mom, who lives in Perth, Western Australia, said: “It’s been pretty traumatic. It’s not easy seeing your daughter in so much pain with nothing you can do.”
When Lowe’s back was turned, the four-year-old had bitten into a Persil laundry pod (sold as Omo in Australia), which had then burst onto her face. These pods, often discussed in product liability lawsuits and household chemical burn injury cases, contain high-alkaline detergent—a compound known to cause severe eye injuries on contact.
The mom-of-one recounted: “Luca was helping me with the laundry and I gave her the pod just to hold while I put the washing on.
