|
Abstract
|
An increase in fatal sodium nitrite poisonings has some health experts calling for stricter regulation of the substance.
Sodium nitrite is a white salt commonly used in curing meat. But it's also being used as a poison in suicides.
Ontario has seen at least 28 sodium nitrite poisoning deaths between 1980 and 2020, with most happening in the last two years of that period.
Alberta Health Service's poison centre, which also serves the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan, saw at least two sodium nitrite poisonings causing serious harm last year, and two more this year.
These numbers are likely an undercount because Canada does not collect comprehensive data about sodium nitrite poisoning.
Toxicovigilance Canada, a poison control network led by Health Canada, was unable to share national figures, citing "no national data from medical examiners, coroners or poison centres."
Poison centres also do not have a clear picture of the problem because it's not mandatory for health care workers to pass along information about the poisonings they treat.
In the United States, the National Poison Data System recorded 47 cases of sodium nitrite poisoning between 2015 and 2020. Like in Ontario, most of these poisonings occurred in 2019 and 2020...
Language: en |