Watch Out for Dangerous Mushrooms

Starting in mid to late spring and throughout the summer, mushrooms start to pop up on lawns, gardens and parks nearly everywhere, especially when the weather is rainier and more humid. In a child’s eyes, mushrooms can be pretty, are new and interesting and might even look like the characters on their cartoons. But beware.

In Ohio, we have a broad variety of mushrooms, some of which are edible, but some are of the deadliest types including “the death angel” or Amanita phalloides. Mushrooms grow quite rapidly and may appear to spring up suddenly overnight. Distinguishing between varieties is difficult and requires an expert. To the average person, certain edible mushrooms look remarkably like some of the deadliest mushrooms. Every year in Ohio we have several hospitalized adults who “thought” they knew which were the safe types and ended up VERY wrong. In recent years, we have had cases of liver damage and even liver failure from adults choosing the wrong mushroom.  A young child may think the new pretty mushrooms are interesting and want to play with them or even taste them.

In 2021, the Central Ohio Poison Center managed 161 mushroom ingestions. So far this year in 2022, we have handled 82 cases of mushroom ingestion.

When playing outside this season, be aware of the mushrooms. If you have small children in the home, remember that their wonderful, curious nature may sometimes get them into trouble. If you ever have questions, please call the poison center at 1-800-222-1222. Save the number in your cell phone or call us for a free magnet with the poison center number and an information packet how to poison proof your home.