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Banner Poison Control warns of harmful chemical in at-home COVID-19 tests

Some at-home COVID-19 antigen tests contain sodium azide, which Banner Poison Control Center warns is a potentially harmful chemical.

If used correctly, there should be no direct exposure to the chemical when using at-home tests.

But, Banner’s Dr. Daniel Brooks says there have been some mild cases of exposure in Arizona.

“Like some irritation to skin or ocular irritation, or maybe just a taste of it where someone has caught their child either putting a drop on their finger or putting it in their mouth, but we haven’t had any clinically significant exposures yet,” said Brooks.

Brooks says some reports include mistaking the test’s buffer solution as a container for eye drops.

He says it’s unlikely that there is enough sodium azide in any at-home tests to cause any serious health problems, but still recommends keeping tests away from children and calling poison control immediately upon exposure.

Vaughan Jones was a reporter at KJZZ from 2020 to 2022.