North Carolina Poisoning Statistics
In a near 20-year period, more than 16,500 North Carolinians died from unintentional opioid-involved overdose deaths (2000-2019). Commonly prescribed pain relievers like hydrocodone and oxycodone have often contributed to opioid-related deaths. However, heroin, fentanyl, and fentanyl analogues are now main contributors to opioid-related deaths in North Carolina.¹
Here are some 2023 NC Poison Control quick facts:
- NC Poison Control answered 77,722 calls and chats from the public and from healthcare providers across the state in 2023.
- Nearly 30% of calls and chats about poison exposures were from doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers needing assistance with the diagnosis, management, and treatment of poisoned patients.
- Over 2/3 of the people who contacted us (70%) were managed right at the site of the call, which is usually at home.
- Pain relievers were the most commonly called about drug substance (10,860 cases).
- Household cleaners were the most commonly called about non-drug substance (6,268 cases).
View NC Poison Control's 2023 Annual Report for more detailed North Carolina poisoning statistics.
Click below to see previous annual reports:
National Poisoning Statistics
In the United States, poisoning is the leading cause of unintentional injury death among 25-64 year-olds.² View this injury grid highlighting the top causes of unintentional injury death in 2022.
- In the United States, on average, a poison control center receives a new encounter involving a human exposure about every 15 seconds.³
- In 2019, U.S. poison control centers received nearly 2.1 million poison exposure encounters, over 360,000 information encounters, and over 50,000 animal exposure encounters.³
- The death rate nationwide due to unintentional poisonings is 30.9 deaths per 100,000 population.4
- Although children under the age of 6 were involved in 40% of poisoning exposures in 2022, they comprised only 1.8% of poisoning deaths. Most (57%) of deaths occurred among 20-59 year olds.³
- Household cleaning products were the most frequently involved substances in pediatric (5 years and younger) poison exposures in 2022.³
- Pain relievers were the most frequently involved substances in adult (20 years of age and older) poison exposures in 2022.³
For more detailed national poisoning statistics, view the 2022 America's Poison Centers' National Poison Data System's Annual Report.
1 Opioid-Involved Overdoses Fact Sheet 2019; NC Dept. of Health & Human Services, March 2021.
2 CDC WISQARS Leading Causes of Death Visualization Tool, 10 Leading Causes of Death United States 2022, Unintentional Injuries, All Sexes, All Races, All Ethnicities.
3 2022 Annual Report of the America/'s Poison Centers' National Poison Data System (NPDS).
4 CDC FastStats: Accidents or Unintentional Injuries, CDC/National Center for Health Statistics, Reviewed July 26, 2024.
