nelson, durbin and speier say the liquid detergent packets look like bitesized candy. hannah hesscq roll call&ldquonow that&rsquos pretty attractive,&rdquo said sen. bill nelson, eyeing a half dollarsized packet of liquid laundry detergent on thursday morning, before stroking the squishy blue orb against his welltanned jaw.&ldquoand it feels really nice to the touch,&rdquo the florida democrat cooed. &ldquoand it smells good,&rdquo he added, coaxing a reporter covering the news conference on liquid detergent package poisoning to pass his prop on to the cameramen. &ldquopass it on because until you touch it, you don&rsquot realize how attractive it is.&rdquonelson&rsquos theatrical performance elicited some laughter during an otherwise somber presentation that featured a mother whose 8monthold daughter ended up in intensive care after biting into one of the colorful, bitesized packages of highly concentrated, singleload detergent. liquid detergent packaging exposure is also linked to the death of a 7monthold boy in florida.&ldquoit ought to be common sense that things that are attractive are going to enter into the mouth of an infant,&rdquo nelson said. he also took a quick swipe at one of democrats&rsquo favorite foes, ecigarettes, comparing the colorful detergent to liquid vials of nicotine.in response to recent poisonings, senate minority whip richard j. durbin has introduced legislation that would give the u.s. consumer product safety commission the authority and direction to issue rules requiring safer, childresistant packaging for liquid detergent products within 18 months of enactment. six senate democrats, including nelson, are cosponsoring the bill.durbin and rep. jackie speier, dcalif., sponsor of companion legislation, also wrote to the commission, asking them to help. &ldquothe problem with that is government moves slowly,&rdquo durbin said. &ldquoand while the government is moving slowly, if it does move in the right direction, kids are at risk.&rdquonelson, durbin and speier called on industry giants, starting with procter & gamble, to add protections to their products. they suggest changing the design and color of the liquid detergent packets to make them less appealing to children, changing the composition of the packets to make consequences of exposure less severe and adding proper warning labels.&ldquoif it had a bitter taste to it, the kid might spit it out right off the bat,&rdquo durbin said. the lawmakers plan to abandon the bill if those voluntary standards are accepted and put into practice. durbin urged the industry &ldquodon&rsquot wait. do it yourself, and do it in a hurry, because kids lives are at risk here.&rdquorelateddemocrats renew press for curbs on ecigarettesthe 114th cq roll call&rsquos guide to the new congressget breaking news alerts and more from roll call in your inbox or on your iphone. 
