Next time you find yourself opening a child-resistant medicine bottle or quart of motor oil and mutter to yourself, “Who invented these things anyway?” you can thank one Dr. Henri J. Breault, a Canadian pediatrician and father who simply refused to accept a status quo of 100,000 tragic cases of accidental poisoning a year. His invention, the “Palm N’ Turn,” was patented in 1967 and led to the worldwide introduction of Child Resistant Caps (CRC) and a 91% reduction in local child poisonings.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) require Child-Resistant packaging with various products. The CPSC administers the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (PPPA), which states in part: “The term ‘‘special packaging’’ means packaging that is designed or constructed to be significantly difficult for children under five years of age to open or obtain a toxic or harmful amount of the substance contained therein within a reasonable time and not difficult for normal adults to use properly, but does not mean packaging which all such children cannot open or obtain a toxic or harmful amount within a reasonable time.”

The EPA sets standards for packaging of pesticides and/or devices to protect children and adults from serious illness or injury resulting from accidental ingestion or contact under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), section 25 (c)(3).

What types of Child-Resistant Caps are there?

And make no mistake, it is the cap that makes a package genuinely child-resistant, and therefore fully compliant with PPPA/FIRFA regs. Today’s cap designs include:

• Push-and-turn
• Squeeze-and-turn
• Squeeze-and-pull
• Rim-snap

Child-resistant packaging has certainly saved tens of thousands of young lives nationwide since 1970, when the CPSC first introduced its PPPA regulations. And while no package can truly be called “child-proof,” today’s child-resistant technologies have transcended Dr. Breault’s original design to bring not only safety, but sustainability, clarity and convenience to CR plastic caps and containers.

Among domestic manufacturers, Mold-Rite offers the most complete collection of child resistant closures on the market, as well as a broad array of jars, continuous thread closures, dispensing closures and specialty caps.

Their extensive line of child resistant closures includes:

• Sizes from 20mm to 89mm
• Pictorial, text and EZ-Safe® styles
• Embossed and debossed options
• Smooth top for custom messaging
• Standard and custom colors... ideal for standing out on crowded store shelves

Combined with the recent additions of both the 22mm and vented 38mm child resistant closures along with the new Sleek CR launching soon, Mold-Rite has more child resistant options than ever, manufactured with industry leading standards including:

• A robust manufacturing environment
• Flexible delivery and service model
• ISO 9001 Certification ensures we follow our process with every item produced
• Audited quality system
• Product traceability
• Certificate of Compliance with every order shipped
• Scrupulous vendor audit program
• cGMP manufacturing
• Type III DMF holder
• Tool and product validation integrated with Engineering and Quality support
• And, single source capabilities, domestic manufacturing, in-house design and tooling capabilities all allow the rapid development of custom solutions.

Those solutions can be augmented through the use of tamper-evident seals and plastic pull-rings, which require strength and dexterity most five-year-olds don’t possess: another layer of protection in case a child does manage to remove the cap of a fresh bottle or jar of product. Specific label warnings increase safety margins as well, as grown-ups are reminded of recommended safe storage. All such options, along with CR caps, help reduce manufacturers’ liability while supporting corporate responsibility.