The headlines paint a bleak picture. “Thousands of kids are getting sick from downing melatonin pills.” The number of children “overdosing” on melatonin has “skyrocketed” in recent years, according to other headlines. The implication of these articles, and the government report they are based on, is that melatonin—but really supplements in general—are unsafe. Just as Sen. Dick Durbin and his allies are working to pass additional restrictions on supplements, a report that seemingly indicates safety issues with melatonin is issued by the government. It can hardly be a coincidence. But even a cursory glance at the facts shows that melatonin is overwhelmingly safe. It is another example of a coordinated attack on supplements to paint them as dangerous, unregulated products that are hurting children. We cannot let these shameless hit pieces succeed in their goal to regulate supplements out of existence.
The articles are based on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report claiming that pediatric use of melatonin has increased dramatically over the last ten years, which has caused a similar increase in hospitalizations and poison control center calls concerning melatonin ingestion—even, the report says, two deaths.
The CDC report admits at the outset that the increase in hospitalizations is “primarily because of an increase in unintentional melatonin ingestions.” In fact, 94.3 percent of the melatonin ingestions reported to poison control centers were for unintentional consumption; in other words, children got into a bottle of melatonin without adult supervision and ate enough of it to make their parents concerned enough to call a poison control center. Is that an issue with melatonin safety, or is that an issue with irresponsible adults?
Further, an increase in the number of poison control center calls sounds bad, but according to national data, in 2020 83% of poison exposures reported to U.S. poison centers were nontoxic, minimally toxic, or had at most a minor effect.