The number of pediatric melatonin ingestions reported to U.S. poison control centers increased 530 percent from 2012 to 2021, according to a June 3 report from the CDC.
A total of 260,435 melatonin ingestions among children were reported during the nine-year period. The number of reports increased from 8,337 in 2012 to 52,563 in 2021. The largest yearly increase of 37.9 percent was seen from 2019 to 2020. Most of the poison control reports were regarding unintentional ingestions.
"This might be related to increased accessibility of melatonin during the pandemic, as children spent more time at home because of stay-at-home orders and school closures," the CDC report said. "Further, reports of increasing sleep disturbances during the pandemic might have led to increased availability of melatonin in the home."
Melatonin gummies may be particularly enticing to young kids, physicians told NBC News.
"Many of them are not in any child-resistant packaging," said George Wang, MD, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora. "There's no regulations on how they should be packaged. A child could get into a significant amount of them."
Less than 2 percent of all reported ingestions resulted in more serious outcomes. Still, the number of cases requiring hospitalization increased throughout the study period. About 4,000 children were hospitalized. Five children required ventilation and two died. The deaths occurred in a 3-month-old and 1-year-old.
Kevin Osterhoudt, MD, medical director of the poison control center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told NBC News the hospital has seen "a huge rise in melatonin ingestions and melatonin exposures." The CDC report "corroborated what we felt we'd been seeing at the bedside.
Symptoms among hospitalized patients are usually mild and include sleepiness, headaches and restlessness, Dr. Osterhoudt said, adding that more severe cases can result in a coma and breathing issues.
"This report highlights the need for more research into the causes of increased melatonin ingestions among children and for public health initiatives to raise awareness. Child-resistant packaging for this supplement should be considered, and healthcare providers should warn parents about potential toxic consequences of melatonin exposure," the CDC said.