Maybe you’ve seen the new detergent products called laundry pods. They hit the U-S market in early 2012.

Each pod is about the size and shape of a charcoal briquette. It contains a dollop of brightly colored liquid detergent, just enough for one load of laundry, sealed in a thin membrane that dissolves in water.

For people on the go, laundry pods make it a little easier to wash clothes. However, these products can be dangerous to small children.

An article in a recent issue of the journal Pediatrics spells out the details.

In 2012 and 2013, U-S poison-control hotlines took more than seventeen-thousand calls involving children under age 6 who were exposed to these products.

It’s believed that many of these unfortunate tykes mistook a laundry pod for a package of candy or juice and broke the membrane while handling or chewing it.

About 750 of these children were hospitalized. One of them died.

In 80 percent of the cases, the victim swallowed detergent. Many of the other exposures involved detergent getting into the lungs or eyes. About three-quarters of the cases involved children aged 2 years or less. Boys and girls were equally likely to be victims.

At least one manufacturer has responded by changing the containers for its laundry pods, making them opaque and more child-resistant.

However, there doesn’t appear to be any effort to change the pods themselves.

The study authors suggest that households with children under 4 avoid laundry pods altogether and stick with traditional detergents.

There’s also a more basic solution — keeping kids away from household chemicals.

After all, cleaning products may come and go, but childhood curiosity is here to stay.