America’s Poison Centers Releases 42nd Annual Report of the National Poison Data System® (NPDS)

America’s Poison Centers releases the 2024 Annual Report of the National Poison Data System® (NPDS), providing a comprehensive analysis of poison exposures and information requests reported to the 53 U.S. Poison Centers in 2024.

The National Poison Data System (NPDS) is the nation’s only near real-time poison surveillance system, capturing data from all U.S. Poison Centers and offering critical insight into poisoning trends, emerging hazards, and public health threats. In 2024, Poison Centers responded to 2,418,426 total cases, including 2,092,689 human exposures, a slight increase from 2023, and 285,736 information request, highlighting the continued need for access to poison center services nationwide. In 2024 24% of cases originated from healthcare facilities, reflecting the long-term trend that poisonings are becoming more complex and severe, requiring poison center expertise for treatment.

The most common substances involved in poison exposures remained consistent with previous years and included analgesics, household cleaning substances, antidepressants, cardiovascular drugs, and cosmetic and personal care products. The report also highlights several emerging trends in toxicology and clinical care. Key findings include:

• The increasing use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) in the treatment of severe poisonings. From 2019 to 2024, NPDS identified 965 cases where ECMO was used, a 54% increase, with 217 cases occurring in 2024 alone. Of these cases, 25% involved teenagers ages 13-19. These findings reflect growing clinical awareness of ECMO as a potentially life-saving intervention in poison-related cardiac arrest, as well as the increasing need for access to ECMO facilities as the number of severe poisoning cases continue to rise.
• A rise in exposure to processed psychedelic mushroom products such as chocolates and gummies. These products are often unregulated and may contain unknown or unlabeled ingredients. From January 1, 2023 to June 30 2025, there were 1,195 reported exposures involving these products, with 68.5% using the products intentionally. Nearly 70% of these cases required care in a healthcare facility, showing the significant health impacts associated with these unregulated products and the need for improved public awareness, packaging standards, and regulatory oversight.

Poison Centers remain a critical resource of the nation’s public health system, providing free, confidential, 24/7/365 expert medical advice to the public, local communities, and healthcare professionals. Poison Centers play a vital role in reducing unnecessary emergency department visits, improving patient outcomes, and supporting rapid response to emerging toxicological threats.

For more information, or to read a full copy of the 2024 National Poison Data System Annual Report, visit: https://www.poisoncenters.org/annual-reports.

For poison-related questions or emergency assistance:

• Call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 to speak with a poison expert, or
• Visit PoisonHelp.org (the official website for America’s Poison Centers) for resources and support.

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Contact:

Maggie Maloney

America’s Poison Centers

Sr. Director of External Affairs

maloney@poisoncenters.org