Lunar cycle and poison center calls

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Toxicology
• Public Health

Background:

• The Maryland Poison Center analyzes calls to monitor public health trends.
• Previous research has explored correlations between lunar cycles and human behavior, but data on poison exposure is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate potential associations between lunar periods and the incidence of poison exposure calls.
• To determine if specific moon phases correlate with different types of poisoning incidents.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 22,079 calls to the Maryland Poison Center over 13 lunar cycles.
• Calls were categorized based on lunar periods, defined as the day of the lunar event +/- 2 days.
• Call data was analyzed for correlations with full moon and new moon phases.

Main Results:

• A higher proportion of total calls and unintentional poisoning calls occurred during the full moon period.
• Unintentional poisonings were significantly more frequent during the full moon compared to the new moon.
• Suicide attempts and drug abuse calls were most frequent during the new moon period.
• The lunar cycle did not influence the victim's age, sex, or treatment location.

Conclusions:

• Lunar phases, specifically the full moon and new moon, appear to correlate with distinct patterns of poison exposure calls.
• These findings suggest a potential link between lunar cycles and public health emergencies related to poisoning.
• Further research is warranted to understand the mechanisms behind this observed lunar influence on poison exposure.