Cardiff University 'Be a Scientist' Event 2025

March 31

During February half term, our Specialists in Poisons Information Nathaniel Keymer and Bethan Hughes attended the Cardiff University ‘Be a Scientist’ event, part of the Cardiff Science Festival 2025.

This free event included stalls from a large variety of science disciplines and organisations with many interactive activities for the children to take part in. Attendees included families with young children up to early teenage years, the children were incredibly enthusiastic, and the event was a great success!

The NPIS Cardiff stall was themed ‘Be a Poisons Specialist’ and had two activities which represented our work when managing poisoning cases. The first activity involved determining the toxicity of common household chemicals and cleaning products, families were taught how to identify clues regarding their toxicity (ingredients, warning labels), as well as how to store them correctly and prevent poisoning.

After learning about the product, the children would place it in the green, amber or red circles to highlight their potential danger. Our second activity involved calculating safe, licenced doses of paracetamol and how to prevent accidental overdose. The children enjoyed the opportunity to combine their mathematical skills with science and worked well together to solve the case studies and work out if medical attention was required.

We thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this local community and education driven event, it was the perfect opportunity to speak with young families and raise awareness of common poisoning risks and poisoning prevention.