New York’s relationship with the Internet is toxic.
Adults overwhelmingly made up the majority of subjects who called the city’s Poison Control Center last Halloween — but not because they’re suddenly more liable to munch on a glow stick than tiny trick-or-treaters.
Older generations are more likely to dial 212-POISONS looking for help than parents of young kids, who are increasingly turning to “Dr. Google” for the antidote, one expert told The Post.
“If you’re a 30-something-year-old, you’re going to Google. But if you’re older than that, you’re probably going to feel more comfortable calling somebody,” explained Maria Mercurio-Zappala, associate director of the Poison Center within NYU Langone’s Emergency Medicine team, Division of Medical Toxicology.
Last Halloween, the NYC Poison Center received 191 calls for exposures — 108 of which were for subjects over the age of 20 years old.
Just 59 of those holiday calls were made for children under the age of 5, with another 14 made for the 6-12-year-old age group and another 10 calls for the 13-19-year-old age group, according to data provided by the city Department of Health.
The data says less about which generation is getting into toxic substances and more about where the victims are looking for answers, according to Mercurio-Zappala.
“People are more comfortable with the phone and looking things up on the phone, and that’s what they’re going to do unless you show them that what they may be looking at is wrong,” she explained.
“Dr. Google is not 100% perfect.”
That’s not to say, however, that adults are less susceptible to toxins or accidental poisonings on the spooky holiday.
Cosmetics, toys and glowsticks were the top three exposures last Halloween, according to the DOH, the latter of which is a common chemiluminescent that Poison Control experts see plenty of teens and adults bite their teeth into at other times of the year.
“That was really more common a few years back, but that’s typically what happens with adults. It’s mostly substance use — they typically use ecstasy or something like that, and then they have glowsticks with them and then they end up chomping on the glowstick,” Mercurio-Zappala said.
Kids tend to ingest Halloween makeup and toys every year, with prescription and over-the-counter medications making up a smaller proportion of the toxin calls.
The main takeaway this Halloween is to call the New York City Poison Center when in doubt — even if it’s to get a second opinion after consulting Dr. Google, urged Mercurio-Zappala.
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