The symbol of dangerous and deadly ingredients on the cover of an animated bottle of chemcials

The considerable rise of poison exposure in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic could be due to incorrect use of cleaner and disinfectant, suggests data released by organizations with expertise in the field.

With exposure reports on the rise, U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) compared chemical exposure incidents reported to the National Poison Data System (NPDS) between January and March of 2020 to the same three month periods during 2018 and 2019, according to the CDC website. It was discovered that the 45,550 calls related to cleaners and disinfectant exposure between January and March 2020 was 20 percent higher than in 2019 and 16 percent higher than in 2018.

More than 28,000 of the 45,550 calls involved issues related to cleaner exposure, with the rest regarding disinfectant. A majority of the rise in these calls occurred in March.

The CDC's website makes it clear that the data researched does not prove a link between cleaning efforts during this pandemic and a rise in exposure. However, it goes as far as to say there "appears to be a clear temporal association with increased use of these products."

In response to the growing trend of exposures, the AAPCC issued an alert Tuesday on how Americans should be using disinfectants and how they should be avoiding dangerous exposure to these products. The alert can be viewed by clicking here.