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North Carolina Poisoning Statistics

From 2013-2017, 5,922 North Carolinians died due to unintentional opioid-involved poisonings.¹

  • In 2022, NC Poison Control answered 76,574 calls and chats from the public and from healthcare providers across the state.
  • One out of every 4 calls and chats about poison exposures were from doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers needing assistance with the diagnosis, management, and treatment of poisoned patients.
  • Over 2/3 of the people who contacted us (70%) were managed right at the site of the call, which is usually at home.
  • Pain relievers were the most commonly called about drug substance (10,841 cases).
  • Household cleaners were the most commonly called about non-drug substance (6,292 cases).

View NC Poison Control's 2022 Annual Report for more detailed North Carolina poisoning statistics. 

Click below to see previous biennial and annual reports:

National Poisoning Statistics

In the United States, poisoning is the leading cause of unintentional injury death, and nearly 9 out of 10 poisoning deaths are caused by drugs.²  View this injury grid highlighting the top causes of unintentional injury death.

  • In the United States, on average, a poison control center receives a new encounter involving a human exposure about every 15 seconds.³
  • In 2019, U.S. poison control centers received over 2.1 million poison exposure encounters, over 350,000 information encounters, and over 68,000 animal exposure encounters
  • The death rate nationwide due to unintentional poisonings is 12.3 deaths per 100,000 population.4
  • Although children under the age of 6 were involved in 43% of poisoning exposures in 2019, they comprised less than 1% of poisoning deaths. Most (62%) of deaths occurred among 20-59 year olds.³
  • Cosmetics and personal care products were the most frequently involved substances in pediatric (5 years and younger) poisoning exposures in 2019.³
  • Pain relievers were the most frequently involved substances in poisoning exposures overall in 2019.³

For more detailed national poisoning statistics, view the 2019 American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System's Annual Report.

 

Opioid-Involved Poisonings Fact Sheet; NC Dept. of Health & Human Services, Nov. 2018

2 NCHS Data Brief, No.81, Dec. 2011

3 2019 Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System (NPDS)

4 CDC FactStats: Accidents or Unintentional Injuries

Last Updated on 09/19/2024