On March 6, a mother in Oregon watched a public television report about British companies that were discouraging children from eating poisonous household products by lacing them with Bitrex, the world's bitterest flavoring agent.
The woman, Lynn Tylczak, who has two small children and lives in Albany, 60 miles south of Portland, began a letter-writing campaign that is focusing attention on poison prevention. She may also be speeding Bitrex's journey to supermarket shelves in products like detergents, nail-polish removers, rodenticides and antifreeze.
"Mrs. Tylczak has already achieved a certain victory by bringing national attention to this issue," said Linda Golodner, executive director of the National Consumers League in Washington. "She has shown that a single consumer can make a difference."
Now she is encouraging manufacturers to add Bitrex to their products by sharing with them letters of support that are sent to her group, the Poison-Proff Project (4384 S.E. Ermine Street, Albany, Ore. 97321).
`A Very Promising Area'
Consumer and safety organizations in the United States are beginning to notice. On May 5, the National Safety Council, a 13,000-member public-service organization, called on manufacturers to use Bitrex in all appropriate household products.
"Bitrex is the most bitter substance known to man," according to the Merck Index.
In 1982, some British companies began using Bitrex in household products to deter inquisitive children, but the practice did not grow until two years ago, when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents endorsed its use.
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