Coroner pledges to investigate death of two-year-old who ingested toilet freshener

A coroner has asked to investigate whether a popular toilet freshener contains lethal ingredients after the death of a two-year-old child.

Arietta-Grace Barnett, from Sarisbury Green, Hampshire, is believed to have ingested a Toilet Duck gel capsule on 28 June 2019.

She was taken to hospital after she began vomiting a “bright pink” liquid, a Winchester inquest heard.

On 2 July, she was dismissed from the hospital and attended an outpatient appointment the following day.

But the girl started vomiting blood one week later, on 9 July 2019, and an ambulance took her to Southampton General Hospital where she died after extensive resuscitation attempts.

Coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said that the girl was believed to have swallowed a Toilet Duck gel capsule designed to stick to the toilet bowl and slowly release its chemicals.

Ms Rhodes-Kemp said that a post-mortem examination found that Arietta-Grace died as a result of a haemorrhage from an aortoesophageal fistula – an abnormal connection between the aorta and the oesophagus – with ulceration.

But it had not been proven that the corrosion of the child’s oesophagus had been caused by the toilet freshener capsule, and Ms Rhodes-Kemp called for further investigations to alert the manufacturer of the potential lethality of its product.

“The difficulty we have here is a connection between that product and what happened, and it seems to me that needs further investigation,” she said.

“If it does contain agents that can cause this sort of corrosion and this sort of death in a child, then it’s very important the manufacturer is aware of that, can investigate themselves and steps can be taken to prevent this tragedy occurring again.

“Toilet bowls are readily accessible to small children and these products are designed to be bright, pretty colours and attractive in smell, particularly to children,” she added.

Paediatric surgeon Simon Keys told the inquest that it wasn’t sure that a chemical from the product had caused the injury.

“If this is the explanation for the injury, it’s the first time it’s been described,” he said.

“It’s a tragedy clearly; it has wide implications for everybody in the medical community treating people with this type of injury and for the people making these products.”

Additional reporting by PA